Every fitness journey is often seen as a challenging path, packed with sweat, discipline, and determination. Beside the same routine and hard goals, there's an element often overlooked - joy. Finding joy in your fitness journey is not just about achieving results, it's about enjoying the process and embracing a healthier lifestyle with a smile.
Let's dive into how we can make our fitness journey more enjoyable and fulfilling.
Taking the First Step
The first step in your fitness journey might be the hardest, but it's the one that will bring in the results. Cheer up and get ready to engage in different workout routines to get in shape. You can buy customized gear and apparel for workouts that will keep you feel comfortable throughout your journey. It will help you prepare your mind and body for taking on daily challenges with a head-on approach.
Smart Approach to Fitness
It is not necessary to begin with a 2 hour long high-intensity training (HIT) session. You can always start small. Start with 20 minutes of brisk walking, jogging, swimming, dancing, and yoga. After building up the stamina you can take it up to 1 hour.
The President's Council on Sports, Fitness & Nutrition recommends healthy eating and working out exercises for all people. It is recommended that they do at least three days of vigorous-intensity physical activity and include activities to strengthen their muscles and bones at least two days a week. Adults should incorporate about 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic or anaerobic exercise per week. Try doing push-ups, weight lifting, and sit-ups twice a week. You can break your exercise into intervals of 10 minutes of activity with a few seconds of rest in between each.
Best Exercise for Fitness Routine
- Aerobic Exercises: These include casual biking, brisk walking, water aerobics and ballroom dancing. Vigorous activities include running, swimming, playing basketball and jumping rope.
- Muscle-strengthening Workout: These exercises include weight lifting, push-ups, sit-ups and resistance bands training.
- Bone-strengthening Exercises: Such activities include tennis, running, jumping rope and basketball.
Simple exercises for beginners
Do the following exercises as a circuit, doing one set of each exercise for 20-30 minutes without resting in between exercises. After you've done all the exercises, rest for one or two minutes and do a second circuit. Do this 2-3 times. Then start incorporating light weights, and slowly add more resistance when you become stronger.
Stand with hands on the back of your head and feet shoulder-width apart. Turn out the feet slightly to open the hip joint. Bring your body down so that your legs are at right angles to the floor. Hold for a breather, then repeat this exercise.
Tighten your core by pulling in the belly button. Slowly bend the arms at the elbow and lower yourself until your arm is at 90 degrees to your body. On exhaling, contract the chest muscles and push up through the hands to gradually return to the original position.
Take your right step forward. Bend at the knee until the right thigh is almost parallel to the ground. Keep the left leg bent at the knee and balance yourself on your toes. Back to the original point with an exhale, step back with the right foot. Then do the same with the left leg.
Sit on the floor and extend your legs. Wrap one end of a resistance band around both soles of your feet and hold one end in each hand. Tug the band down to your waist, and squeeze the shoulder blades. Maintain proper posture, keeping your back straight and shoulders down. Slowly return to your original position and repeat the exercise.
This exercise routine will help build up your muscle strength and body stamina. But the catch is to keep up with the exercise routine daily.
Smile - Represents Reward
Imagine yourself shining in the glow of endorphins after your workout session. This is the best feeling ever. Smile is the reward, the positivity, and the satisfaction of progress that fuels your spirit and helps you keep moving with your workout routine.
State of Obesity reported in 2018 that adult obesity rates exceeded 35 % in nine states, 30 % in 31 states and 25 % or more in the United States. Weight loss science says that along with nutrition and sleep, exercise plays an important role in both weight loss and mental well-being.
Relation of workout with mental wellness
You can reap many benefits by working out consistently. We have listed below five major benefits of exercising that reflect the connection of physical activity with our mental well-being and overall health.
Exercising is like a happiness booster for your body. But when you move and groove, your body releases special chemicals known as endorphins. Endorphins are tiny superheroes that make you happy and excited. Therefore, the more you move the greater number of these little heroes creates happiness in your body.
Exercise can be your superhero if you are going through anxiety. According to the American Psychological Association, when you exercise your body lowers the levels of stress hormones. It makes you feel more relaxed and peaceful. That's why next time you feel stressed try going for a walk or dancing around.
And then imagine there was a magic potion that improved your sleep. Well, that potion is exercise. If you're active throughout the day, your body will be ready to get into bed by night. It's "calories" which can make you go to sleep. It means that you need to lose some calories by adding some exercise into your day if you want sweet dreams and a relaxing sleep.
Cognitive function is a big word, but it means making your brain work better. Like giving your brain a power-up, when you exercise. You get better at remembering things, thinking clearly and solving problems. It's like switching the brain into superhero mode.
Impact of exercise on physical well-being
The amount of physical exercise needed for weight management differs from person to person. For most people, a reasonable standard is about 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity each week. To lose fat and maintain a healthy weight takes more than this.
Meeting the 150-minute standard of activity lowers the risk of heart disease and stroke, which together account for nearly a third (31%) of all deaths in the United States. It can also lower blood pressure and raise cholesterol levels.
Physical activity lowers the chance of type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome in individuals who are at a higher risk of developing such diseases.
People with more physical activity have a lower chance of getting colon & breast cancer. The same is believed to hold true for endometrial and lung cancer.
Old age causes a loss of bone density, which can be delayed by exercise. It also helps with arthritis. So, exercise every day to build healthier muscles and stronger bones.
- Enhances ability to perform daily activities:
Physical activity helps people, particularly middle-aged and older adults, in everyday duties such as climbing stairs, grocery shopping or playing with kids. Exercise prevents falls and makes you stronger for your day-to-day activities.
Repeat - Reflects Consistency
Exercise isn't just about physical activity but empowering your mind and cultivating a deep appreciation for what your body can do. Whether you are a professional athlete or someone who is just starting with exercise, repetition and continuous efforts are extremely important for achieving your desired fitness results.
Benefits of repeating the exercise
Repeating the same exercise routine helps in building 'Muscle memory', which gives people the impression that our muscles can store information. Our muscles don't have their own brains but with practice our brain can become better at sending messages to the muscles. With an effective neuromuscular system, movements are more fluent and automatic as if the muscles themselves can remember a movement.
Through repetition the path from the brain to the muscles becomes more efficient and solidified. The more we push our neuromuscular system to its limits, the stronger and more flexible it becomes. A person with a more flexible, malleable neuromuscular system will be better able to learn or master new physical skills (ex. learning an exercise and sport).
Find joy in the fitness journey
Fitness journey is not just about sweat, discipline, and determination; it's about finding joy in the process. The first step can be challenging; start small and build up your stamina gradually. Experience various workout routines and invest in comfortable yet customized apparels from Infinitude Fight, to make the fitness experience enjoyable and fulfilling. Don't be afraid to experiment; have fun and make your fitness journey your own. Because in the end, the only race you're running is against yourself.