Hasn't it ever happened to you that when you start exercising the first day you give everything and the next you are not able to move? Exactly, we always fall into the same error. If our body is not used to exercising, after a full session it needs a long period of rest, which is not recommended if we want to start leading a less sedentary life. You need to go little by little, set real goals and start doing simple exercises.

1. Burn Fat

This may be the goal of most. A common mistake is  thinking that running is the best option to achieve it, nope. The best way to lose those extra pounds is by doing interval exercises, that is, changing the intensity during the session. Have you heard of high intensity training or HIIT? Holy hand. It consists of giving of yourself everything you can for a short period of time and having another recovery. Continued exercise also makes you lose fat, but in the long term. If you opt for this, we recommend that you do running or cycling combined with exercise tables. Doing both will make it easier to burn calories, MUJER!

 

2. Tone up

If you want to strengthen your body, you must do specific exercises depending on the target area, always combined with cardio, to make it easier. Squats, lifting weights or doing sit-ups are your great allies. The key: a lot of intensity in a short period of time. The series of 20 with 10 seconds of rest are going to become the daily bread if what you want is to show off perfectly marked muscles. 

 

 

3. To keep fit 

This is the best option, since you have more freedom of choice. You can absolutely do the sport that you like the most, you need to move and not lead a sedentary life. The gym, running, tennis, boxing, yoga, trekking ... The list is as long as there are sports, it is important that you practice it frequently and above all that you enjoy it.Do not forget that to achieve any of these objectives, sport must be accompanied by a healthy and balanced diet.

4. Strength training

They are low-range exercises (few repetitions) and intended to increase our strength and our ability to move weight. Again, you have to focus on the gym although with specific routines that focus on specific muscles and parts of the body. The most important thing is progression, progressing little by little, meeting objectives and reaching goals. Beyond the machine room, sports such as boxing or martial arts considerably improve strength and coordination, although they are very demanding for those who start playing sports from scratch. Other specifics such as climbing or skiing work on specific parts of your body very effectively. 

5. Resistance training 

Improving your abilities is another of the fundamental objectives for many of those who have already launched into weekly exercise. The so-called functional workouts (movement, lifting things, pushing them ...) are the most used in recent times, especially crossfit (my favorite one, you don't need to go to the gym, you can do it at home, using simple elements and your body weight) and circuits that incorporate various exercises and muscle groups controlling the action time of each one. There is, of course, running, which focuses a large part of its work on gradually improving resistance and times. Although the experts do not advise times greater than 70 minutes because from that moment on it goes from improvement to muscle fatigue. 

 

6. Disconnect

Does all sport involve reaching a physical goal? Not always, because exercise can also help us put the mind in off mode, release tension or relax the muscles after so much daily tension. Yoga, Pilates, body balance or even outdoor sports such as golf can help us disconnect and improve some functions such as flexibility or coordination. Boxing, for example, releases endorphins and, why not, a football or basketball game with friends, without pressure, also improves our general feeling.  

 

 

Anyway, Whatever you do, and in addition to the perseverance and work that are essential, it is important to take into account other factors.  

• The first is your real availability: do not commit to practicing a sport that requires more time than you have or more effort (mobility, expenses) than you can afford. Three hours of exercise a week is a good standard, the ideal being between three and five.
• The second is age, since the greatest amount of muscle that the body will conserve later is gained between the ages of 20 and 30; From that moment on it is good to diversify the activity and, with the arrival of 40, it is good to increase the strength exercises but watch the knees and hips; From the 50s onwards, stretching exercises or swimming will be the big goals. 

 

• The third one, is your actual situation: are you pregnant? are you breast feeding? are you under a lot of stress? Depending on that, you need to be careful at the moment of practicing sports. In my particular situation, I had 4 kids and while I was pregnant, Yoga was my favorite one!
• The forth one, wear appropriate clothing for the sport you choose. Support bra if you lift weight, comfortable pants for yoga, good running shoes, etc.
• And last and very important, eat healthy and drink a lot of water.

I hope this tips helps you to understand how to choose your training considering your goals. And remember, this is standard and we are all different. You can free your mind through what makes you happier and enjoy the brighter days outside!!