Physical fitness is typically defined as a combination of overall health and the ability to participate in a wide variety of physical activities. Some of the best tips for physical fitness include working a regular amount of cardiovascular activity into your daily life in addition to some strength training. Making these activities something you enjoy, rather than something that you feel that you have to do, is also a good idea. If you feel like you do not have time to improve your fitness level, try making small changes to your daily schedule.
Cardiovascular activity, or cardio, named for its ability to raise your heart rate, is an important part of physical fitness. As such, setting aside time each day to engage in cardio exercise is one of the best physical fitness tips. For healthy adults, most experts recommend at least 30 minutes each day, and this can include everything from running on a treadmill to playing a game of football with your friends. In general, if you’re breathing heavily and your heart is pumping faster than normal during an activity, it is considered to be cardio.
Oftentimes, even for people that most would consider physically fit, strength training is viewed as second to cardio exercise. A good tip for physical fitness is to incorporate a fair amount of strength training to your workout routine. Although running and playing sports can help you to burn calories, improve endurance, and burn fat, strength training helps to improve the overall function of your body, while building muscles helps your system to use up more calories when you’re resting. You do not have to start working out like a body builder for this physical fitness tip; rather, simply incorporate body weight exercises or training with smaller weights into your regular exercise routine.
One of the biggest hindrances to staying fit is trying to engage in activities that you don’t enjoy, and may even strongly dislike. One of the best tips for physical fitness is to think outside of the box when it comes to exercising, using activities that you already enjoy to remain active. For example, if you strongly dislike running or using gym equipment, try joining an aerobics class, playing sports with friends, or taking your pet, kids, or just yourself on a long walk. When it comes to strength training, wearing ankle or wrist weights during the day while you go about your regular activities can be a good way to strengthen and tone existing muscles without taking the time to lift actual weights.
Perhaps one of the most common reasons that people do not work towards becoming more fit is a lack of time, whether this is a perceived problem or a real one. Even if you do not have the time to work out or play sports every single day, there are some changes you can make to your daily life to give yourself some amount of exercise. For example, when shopping, try parking at the farthest spot from the door to increase the amount of time that you have to walk and take the stairs rather than the escalator or elevator. Small changes like these can help to improve your fitness level without taking up any noticeable amount of time.