Health and Fitness Make the Difference Between Living Well and Living

Quality of life is what we all want. Good health helps us achieve a high quality of life. Fitness makes us want to live it every day. If you agree with these three premises, keep reading.

FITNESS BLACKBOOK

A must read that starts out with: Disclaimer: I normally wear long surfer shorts, but I had to throw on a James Bond swimsuit for a dare. I also was drinking a beer and “attempted” to smoke a cigar in the picture.

Fitness Tips

Strength Training Tips

* Include some type of strength training in your weekly exercise regimen no matter what your fitness goals are. Resistance training provides many health benefits. Read articles that discuss the benefits further.

* Don’t take the all or nothing approach. It’s better to do a little training than none at all. So, even if you can only fit one strength training routine in a week, you’ll still benefit from it.

* If you’re a woman, don’t be afraid of strength training. You won’t bulk up (unless you are really trying to). And, resistance training is easy to start. With professional guidance and direction, you can quickly learn how to train properly.

* Be sure you are training with the proper resistance size. Ideally, you should choose a size that fatigues you after 10-12 reps.

* Focus on correct form. If you are unable to use proper, safe form when performing an exercise then you probably are using weights that are too heavy. Choose a size that allows you to train with correct form.

* Concentrate on the muscle(s) you are working during a specific exercise and don’t allow your other muscle groups to assist with the exercise.

* How long you rest between sets is important. For building muscles and getting bulkier the rest time should be longer. For more muscle endurance and leaner, sculpted muscles the rest time should be shorter.

* The frequency of your strength training depends on whether your goals are to get bigger and stronger (less often) or whether you want to get leaner and more defined muscles (more often).

* Try the periodization technique which progress you every week over a 4-week timeframe. Try a plan of starting with lighter weights and more reps, and each week increasing the weight size appropriately and decreasing the number of reps.