13 Workout Tips You Need To Know

Everybody has their own tips and tricks to working out, and if they can find you results then that's great. A couple fitness pointers, however, do more harm than good. These workout tips are sure to get your body toned and your attitude positive!

Treadmill Tone-Up

A 10-minute session on the treadmill at the start of your workout is a great way to get some cardio going and get your heart pumping. To turn the warmup into an effective body sculpting session, bring some 3- or 5-pound dumbbells onto the treadmill and set it to a brisk walk. Spend a minute per set doing various curls and extensions.

Invigorate Your Running

Adding wall sits to the end of your runs is an awesome way to quickly strengthen your quads, glutes, and hamstrings. Work your way up to doing ten 30- to 60-second sets after each of your runs. Add a bit of challenge by including heel raises.

Chart It Out

One of the best ways to stay motivated to work out is by seeing your progress and results. Keep a chart of your fitness stats and set goals for each time you hit the gym. The copious amount of fitness apps make this task simple and fun, but you can also use a paper and pen if that’s what you prefer.

Work It All Out At Once

An awesome all-in-one toning exercise is a side-step squat with wood chop — arms, core, and legs all get attention. Simply stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and hold medicine ball, moving it from right new to left knee. Step out with the leg that the ball is brought towards. Try 10 to 15 reps on each leg.

Make Your Life A Gym

You don’t need to go to the gym to exercise — work some workouts into your daily life. Shoveling snow is actually an amazing power and endurance workout. Replacing your desk chair with a stability ball will greatly help your core. Also, keep small dumbbells near your desk to squeeze in a few reps when work is slow.

Jump Rope Challenge

If you are naturally competitive or ambitious, try to nail down this jump rope challenge. Attempt to jump high enough and spin the rope fast enough so that it hits the floor twice before you land again. It’s actually an intense challenge, but you will burn a lot of calories — about 26 per minute! — by working at it.

The 80/20 Plan

It’s important to know that you won’t be working out and eating healthy every single day, and you shouldn’t feel bad about slipping up. Think of your exercise regimen using the 80/20 plan: 80 percent of the year you’ll be working out and eating right, but you know that 20 percent of it will involve slip ups. You’ll be more likely to stick to a fitness plan once you realize you’re allowed to take a break.

Get A Jump On Weight Loss

Add plyometric box jumps to your workout in order to really improve your cardiovascular stamina and leg strength. Look for a sturdy box that’s at least one foot high. Starting from the standing position, jump onto the middle of the box and then back down again. Try to do this 20 times and keep working your way up!

Carb Up

Many people try to avoid carbs when they exercise, but your body actually needs them to fuel a workout. Grab a piece of fruit or a fiber-rich cracker an hour before you hit the gym. If you plan to exercise for more than 90 minutes, you should eat some protein as well so that the carbs break down more slowly and you get longer-lasting energy!

Make Your Crunches Count

If you are relaxing your abs as you lower your chest away from your knees during crunches, then you are only getting half of the ab-toning benefits. Instead, sustain the contraction all the way down so that you can get the firmest abs possible.

Power Up Your Push-Up

Get more out of your push-ups by incorporating a squat-thrust exercise into them as well. After each push-up, bring your feet up between your hands and jump up. These intense push-ups will have you sweating in no time, and building up your agility, strength, and endurance. Try a set of 8 to start with.

Row Away The Flab

Kayaking is a great way to work out your abs since much of your rowing power comes from your core. If going to the river or rowing machine isn’t a common option for you, than you can mimic the exercise by looping and exercise band around a fixed object in your home. Pull back on the band and rotate your body to one side, then switch sides on the next pull.

Sprint!

Unless you are training to run a marathon, you shouldn’t be running long distances at slow paces. Sprinting will build much more muscle. Throw a few 10- to 60-second sprints into your workout or run, and only slow down long enough to catch your breath.