Five health and fitness tips to get you ready for summer

Spring has sprung and it’s time to get fit for summer. YMCA Brisbane reveals five fitness tips you can take on board to make a real improvement to the way you look and feel. Let’s get physical!

1) Strength training is just as important as Cardio
Many people believe they have to smash out their cardio training to work off all the extra weight they have placed on during their hibernation months, however this is not completely true. Cardio training done correctly is a great way to burn energy, but this only helps during the session and for a short period after the competition of the training session. The introduction of strength training helps to supersede your cardio session by allowing you to burn more energy while you are not exercising. Strength training helps to increase your lean muscle mass which leads to a greater resting metabolic rate. The greater your resting metabolic rate is the more energy your body is burning while you are not exercising. So invest in strength training in your workouts.

2) Don’t just plan your exercise, also plan your meals
May people plan what days they are going to exercise and what they will complete during session. However it is just as important to plan your weekly meals the same way. This will ensure when you are doing your grocery shopping you are not just binge shopping for food but actually purchasing what you require. The planning of meals will also ensure that if you are coming home after a long day you do not have to think about what to cook and in turn take the lazy option of picking up some fast food on the way home. Eating healthy can help shrink your waistline.

3) Be realistic
Around this time each year people are setting their summer goals to have their beach bodies ready for summer. However, when you are setting your goals ensure you are taking a realistic approach to these. Be sure to set small milestones to reach your desired outcome and keep your motivation high.

4) Make the most of longer days
During winter the days are short and it is so easy to stay in bed for a little longer. Now the days are becoming longer this is the best opportunity to get up that little bit earlier for a morning workout or come into the gym at the end of the work day and you will still get home before the sun sets.

5) Make an excuse to exercise, not one not to exercise
Everyone finds it easy to make excuses as to why they did not exercise for the week. This spring try to make excuses to exercise. It could be as simple as taking the stairs to the office instead of the lift or parking that little further away from the shops. In time you will start to find it easier to make excuses to exercise rather than say no to exercise.

YMCA Brisbane has 6900 fitness members across five locations. Join now and for more information visit: www.ymcabrisbane.org