Let’s Get Physical

The following fitness ips come courtesy of Men’s Health, as part of the publication’s Top 100 Best Fitness Tips…

1. In your warm-up, target the muscles you’ll actually be using during your workout

2. Run for longer and with less effort by breathing in fully (so that your abdomen rises) and giving yourself more oxygen

3. Avoid burnout by checking your heart rate the morning after your workout. If it’s considerably above normal, it’s likely that your body is still recovering

4. Strengthen your core muscles to make all exercises easier – sit-ups are the most effective way to achieve greater core strength

Some of the best ways to get fit and lose the pounds are those in which you have fun and hardly even realise you are doing exercise.

This is why sports are so popular; they help you to get great cardiovascular exercise whilst you find yourself immersed in the fun and competitiveness of the game. You’ll get a great adrenaline boost, especially if your team wins!

So, why not grab some friends and play some sport once or twice a week? Badminton and tennis are great group sports for 2-4 people, whilst football, netball or basketball are more suitable for larger groups.

If you work in an office, or in any job which involves sitting down all day, you might have experienced back or shoulder pain. This is often caused by a bad chair, a non-ergonomic desk set up or poor posture, but it can make your life a misery.

One great way to relieve this pain is try a little basic yoga. It helps you to improve your posture so that regardless of shoddy office furniture, you stay sitting properly and remain pain-free. Either head to a class or try it on the Wii Fit, and you’ll amazed at the difference it makes!

There are some sports and physical activities where the clothes and shoes you wear can make a big difference to the benefit you get out of it, as well as how well you perform.

For example, when you go jogging the most important thing you need is proper footwear. Wearing proper running shoes will help you to go faster and run more efficiently, as well as supporting your legs and feet during such a high impact activity.

Ideally, you should wear shoes that offer:

• A good and comfortable fit
• Breathability
• Shock absorption
• Lightness and flexibility, so they don’t add excess weight to your run

Jogging is one of the best forms of exercise you can do, but it can get a little tedious. Here are a couple of ways you can liven things up a bit and hopefully stick to your jogging routine.

• Vary your route. This way you will get to experience new scenery and face different challenges.

• Listen to music. Use an mp3 player and headphones to give you a kind of jogging soundtrack, but make sure you have a suitable place to put your audio equipment to avoid getting tangled in headphone wires or dropping your mp3 player. Pockets, neck chains and arm straps are always good ideas.