Exercising is a necessity today with our hectic lifestyles and processed foods. It has become hard to maintain a healthy body but there are some ways that you can achieve your goals and feel better about yourself without spending hours in a gym. Some people have a goal to lose fat while others are suffering from back pain and certain exercises can help you attain your desired look or feeling. This article will point out a few of the ways exercise can improve your quality of life and leave you not only looking better but feeling better as well.
To lose fat, a goal of many, you simply need to increase cardio work. You can do this by walking stairs in your home, walking around the neighborhood with a friend or even a light jog at the park. Your goal is to burn more calories than you take in. When this occurs, your body will start burning fat for energy. Now you are not going to burn 2 inches in a day as this is a ridiculous claim but you can burn a couple inches a month off your waist and other areas of concern. It will improve your respiratory function as well as your heart leading to a feeling of satisfaction when your exercises are complete.
If you are looking to tone muscle then weight training is the way to go. Now it is imperative that you not weight train without cardio work if you are also looking to lose fat. Without a cardio routine, you will build muscle under the fat and toning will become difficult to accomplish. If you are smaller, simply grab some weights and do light lifts, squats or presses to tone your body. We are not looking for mass so you can keep it light to tone muscle.
For those who have lower back pain, exercise can be extremely helpful. You do need to stretch your back muscles before you start. You can use a broom or mop handle and simply place it behind your neck with your hands holding it towards the ends. Bend over and backwards while holding the stick as well as doing waist twists with your feet in place, never moving. Crunches and sit-ups are also ideal for the back. You are simply working muscles that rarely get worked during your daily routine. The pain you feel is often from those muscles shrinking and tightening up so stretching and working them will alleviate the pain.
Finally, schedule your work-outs into your day. This can be difficult but we are talking about 30 minutes to an hour of your time. You could do many of these as you watch TV at home or listen to your MP3's when walking or at a gym. The point is that it isn't much time to set aside and you can work around some of your favorite downtime hobbies to fit exercise into the schedule.
These suggestions are ideal for anyone who has specific goals in mind. Obviously it is difficult for people to break away and spend a few hours in a gym so it is wise to take advantage of the time you can spare and your own surroundings to meet your goals. Before long you will have a more satisfying appearance and a quality of life that you have long been missing physically.