Vital Fitness Tips for Women

Imagine what the world would be like if no one cared for their bodies. Wonder what it would be like? You can already see it on nearly any city street. There is an epidemic of obesity facing our society, and people must tune in to their own health and fitness needs.

We all know that exercise is essential to living a healthy lifestyle. It's the best way to lose body fat, because exercise boosts the metabolism and encourages the body to burn excess calories. Physical exercise revs up your heart and gets your lungs pumping at their maximum capacity. You'll have healthier bones when you exercise, and you'll look good and feel great about yourself. Exercise gives you increased stamina, making it easier for you to keep up with life's busy pace.

People are well aware of the many benefits of physical exercise. Why, then, do so many women ignore the facts and choose to remain out of shape? Of course, it's much easier to hit the snooze button, take the elevator and drive to work. Ours is a society of convenience and, as a result, we are suffering from a lack of health and fitness.

You can reach and maintain your ideal body weight simply by using the following tips. The specific issues that women face, including a higher susceptibility to osteoporosis, bring to light particular health and fitness issues. To keep your body strong and maintain optimum health, you should follow these tips and implement no less than two of them into all of your health and fitness routines:

1. Don't feel as though you're not doing enough. It seems that women are born with the innate feeling that they're letting someone down. But it doesn't matter if you can't spend ten hours a week at the gym or jog every evening. The important thing is that you make a commitment to improving your health and fitness, and then stick to it. Women's health and fitness advisors suggest that you exercise three to five times a week, for 20-60 minutes. In reality, this isn't always possible. Don't frustrate yourself by aiming for someone else's ideals when you know it's just not possible. If you can work out twice a week at twenty minutes per session, you're doing a great job.

2. Stay focused on your success. Keep thinking about how good it feels to have committed to a new health and fitness regime. If your plan includes weight loss and you're struggling to meet a goal, don't beat yourself up about it. Focus on all that you've accomplished up to this point. Consider today to be your new starting point. Your biggest personal success is the fitness commitment that you've made to yourself.

3. Weight lifting comes first. Many women begin their health and fitness routines with cardio exercises, and then go on to weight lifting. The disadvantage of this is that it is possible to miss out on a critical component of the routine, and spend all of your time on cardio training. When this happens regularly, the outcome can be disappointing despite countless hours at the gym. By reversing the order, and performing weight training first, women are more likely to realize a positive visible outcome.

4. Don't do too much, too soon. Your ideal health and fitness regime requires a workout of no more than an hour at a time. Doing the same exercises over extended periods or spending too much time at the gym or can be tedious and boring. When you narrow your time frame and focus on the exercise, your workout sessions will be more fun and you'll see better results.

5. Keep an eye on your heart rate. Women should work out at 75-85% of their maximum heart rate. When your heart rate is too low, it's a sign that you're not working to your full potential. Too high a rate, on the other hand, shows that you're pushing yourself to a potentially dangerous level. Sticking with a happy medium of 50% or so will not help you to realize your fitness goals. Keep a heart rate monitor on hand or do a manual count incrementally during your workout to ensure that you're reaching, but not exceeding, your ideal target heart rate.

6. Get physical with a friend. It's so much easier to stick with a fitness program when you have some sort of social support. Working out alone can leave you feeling as if you're missing something. With a social support web, you'll feel a sense of kinship, camaraderie and even healthy competition. If you usually work out alone at home, try a sample workout at your local gym. You can also join a Pilates or yoga class, or take up a team sport. Running clubs and even golf courses are other ways to keep in shape and meet exciting new people.

7. Support yourself. Taking on a new health and fitness routine can be tough. It takes commitment, discipline and a lot of hard work. Give yourself the support you need with a pep talk. Don't pressure yourself too much; give yourself a well-deserved pat on the back. There's nothing wrong with giving yourself some great feedback for a change.

Women's health and fitness has become a bigger issue than ever before. Fast food and sedentary lifestyles are robbing women of their good health and stripping them of their self-esteem. It's up to you to make the change to a healthier lifestyle. Go at your own pace, and you'll be amazed at how far you can go.

Article Source: http://www.myaddirectory.com

Columnist Ernestine Clagge is a contributor to a variety of popular Internet magazines, on health and beauty and woman health themes.

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