Putting Your Best Fitness Foot Forward
Committing to exercise is a great step toward better health. Cooper Fitness Center Fitness Director
Mary Edwards
gives her top five tips for putting your best foot forward when it comes to getting into a workout routine.
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Setting goals and resolutions to improve fitness is a great way to take control of your health, but the fitness journey can be challenging. In order to put your best fitness foot forward, Mary Edwards, MS , Cooper Fitness Center Fitness Director, offers her top five tips:
- Know your “hot” button, the reason behind your desire to become more fit. As Drs. Kenneth and Tyler Cooper refer to in their book, Start Strong, Finish Strong, you must find your reason for exercise commitment. We all have different motivations that drive us to reach our goals, so know what ignites your passion to remain committed to your exercise routine and health management. Everyone should have and know his or her reason for wanting to get fit!
- Be realistic. It’s important to understand the journey toward better health and fitness is a lifelong process and should become a lifestyle commitment, not just a short-lived attempt to slim down. Give yourself some grace and allow yourself to set and accomplish small and realistic goals on your way toward achieving larger goals.
- ONE thing. Pick one thing you know you can change…not 12. Again, this makes your goal-setting much more realistic and attainable. This will also allow you to focus on one specific task and not become overwhelmed by too many new patterns or goals. For example, you may pick to begin incorporating one day of full body strength training to your weekly routine or eating unrefined carbohydrates only, such as sweet potatoes, quinoa or whole-wheat breads or starches.
- Educate yourself. What better investment than to understand how to take care of your body? Consider meeting with a professional trainer to improve your strength training plan or learn how to maximize your calorie burn through cardiovascular training. You can also dive into some great fitness material. I always like IDEA Health and Fitness Association’s articles and our Cooper Fitness Files articles. Both are scientifically sound and provide great suggestions for a variety of topics on fitness and health.
- Commit with a friend. Research has shown working out with a partner increases accountability, motivation and intensity of workout session. It is always nice to have a buddy encourage you in your pursuit of fitness. If you prefer to exercise alone, you may consider downloading an app, such as PumpUp, that will provide a steady stream of encouragement on your own timeframe. Other fitness tracking apps also allow you to connect with friends virtually, so you can challenge each other and work toward your goals together, even if you’re not on the same exercise schedule.
If you regularly exercise, then you are most likely no stranger to muscle soreness that often results from new or challenging workouts. Muscle tension is also a common physical symptom of stress. While a little muscle tension will not affect your day-to-day activities, it’s important to manage your pain so that you can maintain a healthy lifestyle and avoid further injuries.
Cooper Fitness Center Professional Fitness Trainer, Paul Mossa , specializes in Muscle Activation Techniques to strengthen muscles. Whether you are experiencing soreness from a new routine or you are new to the workout scene, Mossa offers some suggestions to help ease your sore and tired muscles.