According to health associations such as the CDC and the American Heart Association, you should be getting at least 150 minutes of physical activity a week to maintain optimal health.
Although this is only about 30 minutes, 5 days a week, it can be difficult to maintain a fitness routine. Don’t worry! Building new habits and routines is a tough process for everyone.
That being said, learning a few fitness tips might be all you need to get started on your fitness journey and become a whole new you in no time!
To learn everything you need to know about building the perfect fitness program for yourself, just keep reading.
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Know Your Why
In order to maintain your fitness routine, you need to know your why. Why do you want to work out? Don’t let anyone tell you what your why should be, it’s your fitness program, your reason behind it.
Do you want to improve your health? Lose weight? Improve your physical appearance? Make friends through a gym or fitness program?
Knowing why you’re trying to get fit will make it more likely that you stick to it. Find what motivates you and remind yourself of your why any time you feel discouraged or lazy.
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Create a Schedule
Humans are creatures of habit. When trying to create a new routine, it needs to be just that – a routine. Do your best to exercise on the same days, at the same time, every week.
For example, if you prefer working in the morning, you can set a schedule where you workout at 8 a.m. for 30 minutes every weekday.
Do what works for you! If you find that you’re more energetic in the evenings, don’t force yourself to exercise in the morning.
You’re going to hear all sorts of conflicting opinions about the best time to exercise. But at the end of the day, it’s better to work out when and how you want than to not exercise at all.
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Find an Exercise Partner
Finding an exercise partner is a great way to get social while improving your fitness. Working out with a friend might make scheduling a bit more difficult, as you’ll have to take their preferences and responsibilities into account as well. But if working out with a friend makes it easier to get active, you should do it!
Some people enjoy working out alone, and that’s fine! If you’d prefer to exercise by yourself, you and your friend can simply ensure that the other is up and on the way to their work out when they should be. Feeling the pressure of someone else counting on you can give you the nudge you need to get started.
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Do What You Enjoy
Once again, you’re going to hear all kinds of opinions on the best types of workouts, what to do for each goal, etc. Remember, it’s your fitness program! It’s better to do what you enjoy so that you feel more motivated to get active.
What do you like to do? Swimming? Walking? Kayaking?
Anything that gets your body moving counts as exercise, especially when you’re first starting out. Don’t feel pressured to go to the gym if you hate it. Don’t sign up for a 5k if you can’t stand to run.
Find an activity that you look forward to and it won’t even feel like exercise!
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Improve Your Diet
The two pillars of health are diet and exercise, meaning you can’t reach optimal health by only focusing on one of them. Not to mention, if your diet is poor, you won’t have the energy to exercise the way you need to.
Your diet should be made up of vegetables, fruits, lean proteins, and healthy fats and carbs. You don’t have to follow any strict diet or expensive meal service to eat healthily.
Like exercise, changing your diet isn’t always easy, but you’ll be shocked to find how much better you feel when you begin to put health first by eating quality foods.
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Track Your Progress
For many people, tracking progress is essential to sticking to a fitness routine. Yes, you’ll feel and look better quickly, but it’s common to get discouraged if things aren’t progressing as fast as you would like.
By tracking your measurements, weight, or body fat percentage, you can see your progress in numbers! Keep a record on paper or on your computer that you can add to once a week. If you want to combine multiple pages of results or even include your meal log or motivation, check out this easy way to merge pdfs!
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Create Rewards
Now, you shouldn’t reward yourself with ice cream or a chocolate bar after every workout. Don’t work against yourself! While there’s nothing wrong with the occasional treat, you should make your rewards things that won’t set you back.
Set an appointment at the spa for a massage, allow yourself to buy that pair of shoes you’ve had your eye on, or take yourself for a date to the movies or a theme park. Better yet, set a joint goal with your fitness partner and have a fun day together!
Maintain a Fitness Routine to Keep Your Health in Check
Creating a new routine, whether it be to improve diet, exercise, or even sleep, is a tough task. But building a fitness routine is crucial to living a long, healthy life.
It will be hardest at first, but once you get going and start to see results, both internally and externally, you won’t want to stop!
For more tips on improving your health through diet and exercise, be sure to take a look at our blog!