TeamFLEX Newsletter

Weight Loss Spotlight

Exercise Advice

New Exercise Advice to Firm & Tone

You can plan your weekly exercise schedule in many different ways depending on your personal goals. Other factors that also play a part in how often you can make it to the gym or at what time are your family, your work schedule, your age and how fast your body recovers between workouts.

Exercise Advice: Keep It Simple

A good basic exercise program should have you set up for weight or resistance training three days a week with one day of rest in between workout days. Whether you train different muscle groups on these days or you prefer to do a circuit training type of workout to work through your whole body each time depends on your fitness goal.

Exercise Advice: Training for Muscle

If you train to put muscle mass on, you need to add another day of weight lifting per week and preferably train different muscle groups each workout. On the weight free days in between your weight workouts, you can choose to either rest completely if your muscles require that or you can choose to do a different type of workout, such as cardiovascular or aerobics exercise two to three times a week to keep your body fat percentage down.

If you go to the gym only once a week, it's still better then not to go at all however you can't expect to see the same results like let's say your friend who goes four times a week.

Exercise Advice: Working Schedule

When it comes to workout schedules and how often you should go to the gym it's a personal preference how much energy and time you are willing to put into getting in shape and staying in shape. Getting in shape is one thing but to maintain you have to apply consistency to your rules to live by in order to keep the muscle mass and your firmness or the lost weight off.

Unfortunately working out and staying healthy is a lifelong project and that's why it is so much more important for you to learn how to incorporate your workouts in to your daily life and you family's routine so you will be able to stick with it for a long time ahead.

If you get bored after six months with your weekly plan, sit down and go over what you can change in order to make it fun and interesting again.

Exercise Advice: Sticking to the Training Program

A very common problem is that the plan looks great on paper but when it comes to 2pm and your workout time is there, you might find yourself making up excuses not to be able to get your workout in. If this is the case you need to practice self-discipline and set some rewards for yourself that you are entitled to if you complete your workout that day. Set another reward for yourself if you manage to stick to your workout plan for the whole week.

Let yourself have something or do something that you really enjoy whether it's a massage or eating that special dinner. Your mind will do the trick and make you feel really guilty if you try to give yourself that reward without following through with your workout plan. It works!

Exercise Advice: Rest Isn't a Sin

It's ok to take a break once in a while.

If you find yourself feeling abnormally tired, irritated, edgy and lacking motivation for working out all of a sudden you could be over trained and need to take five days to a week completely off from going to the gym. Over training doesn't only happen to people in good shape. It could happen to anybody who trains more then you let your muscles rest. In other words you burn yourself out and need to listen to your body and your muscles when they tell you they need a break.

Exercise Advice: Dieting Struggles

When you do take a break do not let go of your diet. Keep your diet clean and maybe just slightly dip into a low carb diet, then if you were working out. That way you won't put any weight on or lose any muscle tissue while resting and recovering.