Jump Start 2011: A Man's Must-Follow Beginner Guide to Fitness

 Men often judge physical fitness by the size of their muscles. They tend to skimp on cardio exercise and flexibility, spending a majority of their workout pumping iron. While weight training is an integral part of a successful workout regime, the experts at Life Fitness suggest keeping your workout balanced with equal time spent flexing, heart conditioning and stretching.

1.    Don’t start off as a workout-aholic.  Many gym beginners train feverishly at first then find that they can barely move the next day. Overly sore muscles will keep you away from the gym, ending your fitness program before it ever started.

2.    Always warm up before strength training. Increasing your body temperature by riding a stationary bike or walking on a treadmill for ten minutes will decrease your chances of injury while strength training. And flexibility is important for whole-body fitness, so follow your workout with a five- to ten-minute stretch.

3.    Do fat burning cardio workouts. Interval training for at least 20 minutes can really get the heart pumping – running or walking uphill on the treadmill, hopping on the elliptical cross-trainer or swimming laps are all great ways to increase your heart rate. Cardio also helps you deal with depression and stress, improves metabolism, promotes better sleep and reduces the risk of various health issues like diabetes, heart diseases, cancer, fatigue and high cholesterol.

4.    Weight train three days a week. Rest a day in between each weight lifting session to give your body recovery time, and never train muscles that are still sore. Start by using muscle building resistance equipment like the Hammer Strength Plate Loaded machines since they give you instruction on form, which is important to follow. Some basic weight training exercises include front squats, seated rows, lat pull-downs, bicep curls, leg presses, hamstring curls and the chest press. Visit video.lifefitness.com for instructional videos.

5.    Eat protein after strength workouts. Without proper nutrition, you won’t increase muscle mass regardless of how much you lift. Protein helps in repairing and rebuilding your muscles, so incorporate foods that are high in protein but low in fat, like lean meats or cottage cheese, into your weekly diet.

6.    Switch up your workout. Your body easily adapts to routine. If you feel like your body has reached a plateau, change your routine to continue gaining strength, muscle growth and definition.

Set goals, educate yourself and listen to your body. Change can be subtle, but if you stick to an effective workout program, results will happen!

Fit Tips are provided by Life Fitness, the leader in designing and manufacturing high-quality exercise equipment for fitness facilities and homes worldwide. For more information on Fit Tips and other fitness advice and expertise visit www.lifefitness.com or follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/lifefitness or join our Facebook fan page at www.facebook.com/lifefitness