Yo dieters know the frustration of taking an on-again-off-again approach to weight management. Try these 5 exercise tips to help you stay on track.
1. Do weights, not just cardio! Having a well-balanced program that includes resistance training as a major focus is very important. Promoting strength and lean muscle gains will assist in increasing your metabolism. Burning more energy while you rest will help to smooth out fluctuations. Resistance training exercise should include compound movements (2 or more joints working at once) such as squats, lunges, and pushups, to name a few.
Monitor your progress! Write down what you are doing during your workout (or right after) so that you can continuously try to better your attempt! Making sure you are always working at the correct level of intensity like this will help your body to keep improving rather than settling on a plateau! Regularly monitor your body goals too, so if you’re going off track you can identify when and why and stop the yo-yo cycle before it beings!
3. Do not use exercise as an excuse to eat poorly! Its a really common trap! Exercise should compliment eating a healthy well-balanced diet, not replace it!
4. Be consistent! Write your exercise sessions/appointments in your diary so you keep them! Consistency is crucial! You will feel like you are back on the yo-yo if you exercise plan is “on and off”. Make sure you put yourself first and always make your exercise plans a priority.
5. Be realistic! Make sure the plan or program you are following is suited to your specific needs and fitness levels. If it’s too difficult you may risk getting injured or intimidated out of continuing. Alternately if it is not challenging enough for you, you may get bored, or worse still – lose interest when you are not seeing any results! Either of these scenarios will lead to the yo-yo cycle starting all over again!
I recommend hiring a personal trainer to help you manage these things, guide you and offer you support when or if the going gets tough.
Feature Image: TODAY