Your steps have become slower; you can’t reach up high or stoop easily to pick things up. Your overall physical abilities have diminished. It is time to start a fitness program. You should check out the possibilities–at a gym or home. Consult your fitness doctor. Once you decide on a plan, follow it diligently. Read on for more tips on how to get fit and stay that way.

Reduce stress on your muscles and avoid injury by warming-up before working out. Adequately warming-up will loosen up stiff muscles and get the blood flowing to them. Sudden movements on muscles that have not been adequately warmed-up before exercise can result in pulled muscles, strains, and even tears.

If you’re working on your overall fitness with running and are looking to increase your stamina, you can increase the speed. If you avoid lengthening your stride and rely on taking quicker short steps, your body will acclimate to more challenging training quicker. 

To get the most benefit out of your strength training, incorporate stretches into your routine. At least one scientific study suggests that if you pause after training your muscles and spend 20-30 seconds stretching out whatever power (or set of muscles) it is you’ve been working, this will increase your strength.

One essential tip for living healthy is to get an adequate amount of exercise. It would help if you aimed to do aerobic training and strength training three times per week. Doing both of these can help reduce cardiovascular risk, obesity, and diabetes. Exercise has also been proven to reduce stress and depression.

You can’t expect to see results right away; remember that. You have to stay focused and dedicated to your plan, and a big part of that is your mentality. You can’t expect to have abs in 2 weeks when this is your first time trying to get into shape; it takes months to get that lean body you are searching for.

Exercising properly to stay active and lose weight does not mean you have to go out and buy fancy equipment or join a gym. Some of the best exercises you can do can be performed with nothing but your body. Think about toe-touches, sit-ups, push-ups, crunches, jumping-jacks, and even jogging in place.

The hardest part usually is getting started. Once you have followed your fitness program for a week or two, it will become a habit. The program becomes a part of your daily life, fitness and good health are the result.