We like what we like and we know what we don’t like but from my experience your ideal fitness programme should include lots of different types of exercise. For one thing, it keeps things interesting! For another, it’s more difficult to plateau because you’re constantly shocking your body and for another, it’s great for your body to move in lots of different ways.
Even if you think you just enjoy cardio and hate resistance training (e.g weights) - there’s so many ways to enjoy cardio that don’t involve running on a treadmill and involve some resistance training. Remember the physical benefits of resistance training such as healthier joints and increased bone density. Try a circuits class or incorporate some light weights and/or body weight exercises into your HIIT workout.
Here are a few things to consider incorporating into your fitness programme:
Core Strengthening
Whether it’s running, golf or weight lifting it is so important not to neglect your core. Having a strong core will help support you through your workout and help to prevent injuries. Pilates classes are great as they focus on the deep core muscles and not just working the external (visible) abs.
Flexibility and Mobility
You don’t have to be able to do the splits but it is important to have a degree of flexibility. Especially as we get older we need to keep our joints healthy, our muscles flexible and our posture strong. Yoga is an obvious choice for improving flexibility but doing any kind of stretching and mobility training before and after your workout will help keep you limber.
Cardio
From low impact exercise such as power walking and swimming to higher impact running and hiit, there are many ways to incorporate some form of cardio into your fitness routine. Even if you’re someone who “struggles” with cardio it is important to consider the health benefits such as reducing high blood pressure, strengthen your heart and lower bad cholesterol.
Resistance Training
Despite what many people think, resistance training isn’t just about lifting weights. Although there are many benefits to weight-lifting, just using your body weight counts as resistance training. As well as bands, gravity and some exercise machines. Improve muscle strength and endurance, increase metabolism and reduces risk of osteoporosis - most common in women.
Rest!
Believe it or not, as well as the above four, it is important to incorporate rest days into your training routine in order to achieve maximum performance and reduce risk of injuries. Your body needs time to repair muscles and over training can weaken them.
If you are just getting into exercise or have any questions then do get in touch. At Bodhi Fit we love variety, which is why we offer so many different kinds of classes and all classes are included in our packages so you can mix things up!
Book your class or bootcamp here.