Everyone wants to achieve a level of fitness that makes us look like a Greek statue or some hero in a story. The truth is though, most people do not know how to achieve overall fitness. Read this guide for general tips and detailed ideas.
Steps
- Create for yourself a proper diet. A good diet consists of complex carbohydrates, protein, and essential fats. The ratio should be 60-70% complex carbs, 20-30% protein, and 10-20% essential fats. Good sources of complex carbohydrates are whole grain foods and whole wheat foods. Sources of good protein are whey protein drinks (nothing fancy, something cheap will work) and lean meats along with fish. Essential fats can be found in olive oils, fish, flax seed, and peanuts. Remember, always check a nutrition label if available, if it says saturated fat above 7 grams or trans fat at all, avoid it.
- Master the art of proper exercises. Never do an exercise with an absurd amount of speed, or lift too much so that you can barely finish 1 repetition. Moderation and intelligence is the key.
- Understand that weights are not the only way to build strength and muscle. Use a favorite exercise of old timers out there, the push up, or press up. In addition to the press up, incorporate other body weight exercises (i.e chin-ups, pull-ups, prisoner squats). For endurance, do an exercise with repetitions above 12. For strength add resistance to a body weight exercise and do 6-11 repetitions.
- Know that when using weights, you want to go heavy and do 6-10 reps of a given exercise. This ensures that the muscle goes into an anabolic mode and builds as much muscle as possible. Always work with a weight until you can do 11 repetitions. Once you can do 11 reps of a given exercise, add 5 pounds to further stimulate muscle growth.
- Want to skip right to a six pack? Chances are, you have well-developed abdominal muscles, it is just that you have too much body fat covering them. Lower body fat by doing cardiovascular work such as sprints, Fartlek training, biking, hiking, distance, or even raking a lawn! Anything that gets your heart beating will burn calories. Also, decrease the amount of calories you take in daily by 200-500 for weight loss. If more then 1 kilogram a week is being lost, revise your diet or cut back on the amount of cardio training you are doing.
- Gain muscle by increasing your intake calories with a high nutritional value, so that does not mean eat chips. Stick to a healthy diet as mentioned above and simply increase your daily calorie intake by 200-500 calories. To ensure you are getting enough calories, check the next two steps for a precise equation.
- Determine your activity level. Very light (sitting activities, driving, etc.) 1.3, Light (walking, golf, sailing, etc) 1.6, Moderate (walking with extra weight, jogging, light swimming, biking, calisthenics, etc) 1.7, Heavy ( walking with extra weight uphill, rowing, digging, soccer, basketball, climbing, obstacle course, etc) 2.1, and finally Exceptional (running/swimming races, carrying very head loads, hard rowing, cycling uphill, etc) 2.4 Apply your activity level to the next step.
- Determine amount of calories burned daily use this equation. 6.95 x Weight + 679= calories burned while inactive. Now let 'A' equal your activity level. Amount of calories burned while inactive x 'A'= maintenance calories, or amount of calories needed in a day. A full equation should look like this, 6.95 x 145 + 679= 1687; 1687 x 1.7 = 2867. Now, to build muscle, add 200-500 calories. To lose weight, take 200-500 calories away from that amount.
- Add these hip extensor exercises to your workout. Donkey kicks, supermans, prone back extensions. Limit the amount of hip flexor exercises to twice a week tops. Hip flexors are worked by exercises that lift legs off the floor (i.e. reverse crunches, leg raises, flutter kicks, legs levers, etc). Overworking hip flexors will lead to lower back problems. Limit amount of hip extensor exercises to twice a week as well. Mostly stick to true abdominal exercises (sit ups, crunches, Vee up).
- Get a good night's sleep!
Tips
- Only workout 3 days a week. Example, Monday, Wednesday, Friday, workout; Tuesday and Thursday do cardiovascular if you so choose. Saturday and Sunday use as rest days.
- Drink plenty of water! At least 64 oz. 1 cup (8oz) eight times a day.
- Only eat 0.8 to 1.0 grams of protein per pound of body weight. Determine required protein by multiplying 0.8-1.0 times body weight. The body can only use so much protein at a given time.
- Adding resistance to calisthenics ( body weight exercises) is easy. Do the exercises more slowly or pause at the climax and descent of the exercises, or wear a backpack filled with books or weights to increase the challenge. Resistance is key to build muscle size.
- Use compound exercises if lifting weights (squats, bench press, dead-lifts and so on).
- Alter the classic squat or press up to work different muscle groupings. Holding your arms closer together during a push up or doing a handstand pushup targets several different groupings of muscles. A squat on one leg focuses on different muscle groups then on two legs. Be creative.
- Get 8 hours of sleep
- Never do more then 30 minutes of cardiovascular daily. Too much will burn off muscle. It takes approximately 15 minutes of exercise before your heart reaches a rate at which calories will start being used for energy. Your total cardio workout should be 45 minutes.
- With great gains in muscle mass, there will also be minor amounts of fat gain. Your weight may also increase because muscle weighs more than fat. Suck it up for now, you can burn the fat off later for a six pack.
- Never let anyone tell you that you cannot build muscle with calisthenics alone or that it is possible to build muscle without gaining fat.
- Add a warm-up followed by stretching before an actual workout. A warm-up can be jump rope, jumping jacks, or some cardiovascular for 5 minutes. Follow up a workout with a cool-down, which is more stretching. This prevents injuries and adds more increases in muscle gain!
Warnings
- Do not continue an exercise if it causes excessive amounts of pain, a burn is fine but chronic pain is bad.
- Can't do a particular exercise at all? See a personal trainer for alternatives.
- Do not workout if sick.
- Do not workout if overtired.
Related wikiHows
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- How to Get Great Thighs
- How to Get More Exercise Into Your Day
- How to Force Yourself to Eat Healthy Food and Exercise if You Don't Like It
- How to Do Yoga at Home
- How to Train Your Body
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