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Do You Want To Get Back Into Shape Again?


If you have taken a layoff from your fitness program it's hard to get motivated to start back into your training routine again. What you have to do is set some realistic attainable "written"goals to help get you going.

The reason I have emphasized "written" is simply because if you don't write your goals down they are merely fantasies. Studies have proven over and over that writing your goals down in a notebook is powerful.

Let's look at some examples. If you want to get back into jogging, walk first. Depending on your level of exercise you might only start with fifteen or twenty minutes. If you have a certain level of fitness start with a half hour and gradually increase it.

Once you have been walking for a couple of weeks ease back into running by rotating walking and running. Walk for just ten minutes and run for five and so on. As your fitness level increases and your soreness lessens you should increase the running until you get back to running for thirty to forty five minutes at a time.

If you have experience with weight training in the past and have taken a break of more than a couple of months you really need to take it slow coming back.

With weight training, if you push to do too much initially you can end up hurting your muscle's supporting tendons and ligaments. The key is not to hurry in trying to use the same weights you were using and do less sets.

What I do once I've had a long layoff is to head to the gym and exercise on the stationary bike for 15-2o minutes initially to warm my body up. Then, I will choose only a single body part per day to exercise. If you are an older person or have a bigger frame you may want to continue this kind of program even after your initial break-in period.

Let's look at working the chest for instance. If I were bench pressing 300 pounds prior to my layoff I will begin my first training session with 135 pounds and do 3 or 4 sets of high reps in the 15-20 range. Adjust your weights accordingly. After that I may do 3 sets of flat dumbbell flyes again with higher reps this time so as not to place too much strain on my tendons and ligaments.

Follow these same guidelines for all body parts and increase the weights and reps slowly and within a month you'll be right back to hard training once more and working towards your goals - reducing your body fat and learning how to get a six pack.

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