Hi all
Mark here from Alltone Fitness Personal Training Studio Eltham.
Spring is around the corner which means for a lot of us it's time to get off the couch and shed those winter kilos. Today I will be sharing with you my top 5 fitness tips, hopefully they will help motivate you to wake from your winter slumber, and get the most out of your fitness regime.
1. Add HIIT training in your workouts!
High intensity interval training is fantastic at burning maximum calories in a short amount of time. It's a fantastic fat burner as it elevates the metabolism much higher than would steady state cardio. Long gone are the days of sitting on a exercise bike for 30+mins, a short burst of 10-15 min of hiit training can be all you need to kick start fat loss, improve oxygen consumption and have you feeling fitter in no time. ( Please drop me a line if you would like some example hiit workouts)
2. Take rest days from exercise
More is better right? Actually, no it isn't when it comes to exercise. Our muscles recover and grow while we are resting not working out. When we perform strength exercises, we cause damage to the muscles fibers by tearing them. ( nothing to be alarmed over as they are extremely small micro tears)
With the right nutrition and rest the body repairs those micro tears in the muscles fibers making them much stronger and bigger to cope with any additional stress ahead. By not resting, your not allowing your body to recover adequately. Ensure you take 2 - 3 rest days per week from your fitness regime.
3. Get advice from a fitness professional
Feel as though your not getting to most out of your workout? Do you leave the gym feeling like you haven't really pushed yourself? Or do you just simply don't know what to do? This is where going to see a personal trainer could be the answer for you! Performing exercises incorrectly can lead to an ineffective workout and serious injury. Working with a fitness professional will teach you the fundamentals when it comes to lifting weights and performing the movements correctly. An experienced personal trainer can also spot postural imbalances and help correct them by prescribing a mobility routine to help improve mobility and posture.
4. Technique over weight
Going heavy in the gym reins supreme right? Well... Yes but also no.. Confused? Well let me explain.. Going heavy while not performing the correct technique can put unwanted stress on you neck, joints, and spine leading to serious injury. Only increase the weight once you are able to perform all the prescribed sets and reps with strict technique. This works the target muscle more effectively leading to more time under tension with greater results.
5. Use compound movements (exercises)
Compound movements are exercises that require several joints and muscles to be working at the same time. For example, the barbell bench press is a compound exercise. The primary muscle group being worked are the pecs, followed by the shoulders and triceps as the as-sister muscle groups helping with the exercise. Not only are you getting more bang for buck you also burn more calories, improve movement efficiency, increase muscle mass (hypertrophy) and elevate your metabolism much higher than an isolation exercise would. (single joint movement) Some examples of compound exercises are, squats, pull us, push ups, deadlifts and seated rows. So there you go guys, I hope that has been helpful for you getting the most out of your fitness regime.
Please feel free to drop me a line if you have any questions.
Over and out, Mark - Alltone Fitness & Personal Training Studio Eltham, Greensborough, Bundoora
