It's time for those new year's resolutions! Are you trying to shed a few pounds this January or simply looking to increase your fitness and health? DSQ Gym has the answer! Our Resident Personal Trainer, Mark Lucas, has come up with 5 easy to follow steps to get you into shape!
Step 1: Fix your diet
A better physique is built in the kitchen, not at the gym, so start by fixing your diet. Your body relies on proper dietary intake to perform optimally, so stick to foods that are nutrient dense like fruit, vegetables, lean meat, fish and dairy.
Step 2: Sweat more
Find a cardiovascular exercise you enjoy. Try running, cycling, elliptical training, aerobics or a circuit class. Cardio burns calories and increases your body’s aerobic capacity at the same time.
Step 3: Get breathless
A recent study by the British Medical Journal showed the rate of body fat loss is directly related to the amount of carbon dioxide we breathe out. That means the more breathless we get through exercise, the more fat we burn. Incorporate interval training to your cardio sessions by alternating between high and moderate intensities. For example, run hard for 30 seconds, and jog for 60 seconds. Not only will you burn fat faster, but your body will become more efficient to train harder next time. Start out doing 20-minute workouts three days a week on alternating days. Increase your time by two minutes each week to progressively make improvements.
Step 4: Lift weights
Resistance training will increase your muscle mass and tone, which in turn causes a spike in metabolism for greater long term fat burn. Base your workouts around compound exercises which target more than one muscle at a time like bench presses, shoulder presses, back rows, dips, lunges and deadlifts. Aim for 10 to 12 reps of four or five sets three days a week on non-cardio days.
Step 5: Stretch
Staying flexible with good range of motion will help you perform cardiovascular exercise and resistance training more efficiently for faster results. Attend a yoga class at least once a week to help improve balance, stability and flexibility. If you don’t like a class atmosphere, try a DVD or commit to stretching yourself after every session.
The Fitness Resolution
As the Christmas decorations are carefully boxed away, the start of the year leaves one last thing to be unwrapped - the "new year, new me" resolutions. 'It's the time of year when we swear an oath to banish the bad habits and focus on improving our health and fitness.
January is the month that sees a boom in gym memberships with a 12% increase, according to RealBuzz, however, the fitness fad is short-lived. The Fitness Industry Association's research indicates that after 24 weeks, most people quit or stop attending the gym. We're here to fight the fitness failure and help our gym bunnies pump that iron.
