Did you know that improving fitness is the second most popular new year resolution? Second only to spending more time with the family. How much time did you spend with your family last year and how much time did you spend improving your fitness? Let's put it this way how much time can you put into being ill? When you are ill you don't have a choice, do you? At the moment you do have a choice, so take the opportunity and start thinking about yourself a bit more. Getting fit is an ideal opportunity to spend more time with the family. Plan family activities at the weekend, such as long country walks, bike rides, horse riding and kayaking etc.
Getting in shape is not too difficult, it's a case of making small but positive changes to your lifestyle that have a big impact in the long run.
Example; Walking or cycling to work. Reducing the amount of salt, sugar, fat and alcohol that you consume and generally getting more active at the weekend. It can play a major part in reducing the overall likely hood of developing serious lifestyle related diseases such as obesity, heart disease, strokes and many more. Having a definite goal of what you want to achieve will keep you focused and motivated so you will have much more chance of success.
The very first step is taking action. Be clear about what you want to achieve and focus on that. All you have to do is to make small but positive changes in the right direction and then build on it.
Most people fail or give up, simply because they try to change too much all at once and they expect instant results. Let me tell you a secret, you will succeed if you put your mind to it and realize that the only way to reach your fitness goals are to get started and be committed. Rome wasn't built in a day. Change for life and not just for the New Year. If you want to achieve a healthy body for life then you have to be prepared to make sacrifices and positive changes.

1. Decide what you want to get fit for - A holiday, wedding etc. Set a positive goal.

2. Make a plan - You need to know where you are heading. Decide what you need to do and take action.

3. Eat healthily - Make small but positive changes to your diet. Start by making one change per week.

4. Get active - Getting in shape is all about increasing your activity level through exercise. You need at least 20 minutes per day

5. Monitor your progress - For example, measure your waist or learn how to measure your body fat, so you can see the progress you are making

6. Keep motivated - One of the hardest parts of any new fitness regime is keeping it going. Training with a friend, committing to a monthly membership or joining a class are all good motivators

7. Fitness for life - Don't just make changes for the short term, you will most likely end up back where you started. Make positive changes for life not just for the new year or a beach holiday.

8. How to Burn Body fat - Interval training is one of the most effective ways to burn body fat during exercise. Include structured periods of rest and work during your workout. The work sessions should be hard, 80 to 90% of your maximum heart rate

9. Weight training - Lift weights. Weight training preserves muscle mass. Muscle burns calories, the more calories you burn the slimmer you will be. Do at least 2 exercise sessions per week using weights

10. Core training - Training your core abdominal muscles is important to help you perform everyday tasks such as bending, stretching and twisting. Adding strength to your core improves posture and helps to eliminate back pain.

11. Reward Yourself - The days of starvation diets & 'No pain no gain' exercise routines are long gone. Take one evening or day per week and reward yourself with a well earned rest or slice of your favorite pizza. Just be sensible and don't overdo it. You are much more likely to stick to your routine if you do this.

12. Enter a competition - Entering in to a local event or competition will give you a goal to aim for. You don't have to go out win. Just aim to do the best that you can do. You only have to prove to yourself, no one else.

13. Stretching and flexibility - Stretching before and after a workout is often neglected by most people. But it's really important to do, because it helps prevent injury and post training muscle soreness. It also keeps the muscles supple and flexible to help preserve and increase your range of joint movement for everyday tasks.

14.Nutrition and Exercise - Getting the right kind of nutrition for exercise is paramount to your success. Eating for activity is necessary so your body gets the right nutrients and energy.

15. Eating and activity - If you are looking to lose body fat, then be careful to adjust your calorie intake for the days you are not exercising. Many people people make the mistake of eating the same amount on non-active days as they do on active days.

16. Beat the plateau - When you reach a plateau in your fat loss or fitness regime, don't give up, it just means you body has grown comfortable and got used to what you have been doing. It needs to be challenged again. Make change to your exercise routine, by adding new exercises, vary the intensity, do different activities. Making changes to diet also helps. Try zig-zagging or calorie tapering.

17. Diabetes and exercise - Regular exercise can help prevent the development of Type 2 diabetes. It can also help to control the symptoms of people who already suffer from type 2 diabetes

18. Eat 5 a day - Fruit and vegetables provide us with many of the vitamins, minerals and antioxidants that are required as part of a healthy diet.

19. A complete exercise program should consist of a Warm up - 5 minutes, Dynamic stretches - 5 minutes, Resistance session - 30 minutes, CV session - at least 30 minutes, cool down - minutes, Static stretches - 10 to 15 minutes. You can do your CV and resistance sessions on alternate days to save time, but every workout should still include and appropriate, warm up, cool down and stretching to prevent injury.

20. Prevent heart disease - Regular exercise has been proven to help prevent the onset of heart disease. So get active and be heart healthy

21. Best method to work out your Maximum Heart Rate (MHR). 207-(your age x 0.7). So if you are 30 then using this method your MHR would be estimated at 186 bmp.

22. It's always best to work the larger muscle groups before the small ones. That way you don't tire the smaller muscles too early on. Smaller muscles are almost always used in synergy with larger muscles so they get twice the workout.

23. Diet drinks can make you fatter. Diet drinks and food contain artificial sweeteners that fool your body into thinking you have a massive calorie hit. In response your body releases insulin and you get cravings for more food, often the wrong kinds.

24. Drink a glass of red wine. Red wine is full of antioxidants which help fight of damaging free radicals. It can also help to keep your heart healthy by lowering cholesterol. Just make sure you don;t overdo it. Stick to your daily limits.

25. To improve your fitness levels you have to continually progress and what you can already comfortably do. If you can jog for 40 minutes, then next time you go jog for 45 minutes. If you don't have the time then increase the intensity.

Find out more about How to Get In Shape and join our free fitness program at; http://www.kickstartfit.co.uk/sevensteps.html
or check out my blog at; http://kickstartfit.blogspot.com/ for more fitness tips