Fabled Physique

In the fast food filled and high calorie nation that we live in today many people should be concerned with their health. People want their chiseled chests, defined abs and ripped biceps, but they rarely pursue their desires. One of the more common new years resolutions is to “go to the gym more often” which is usually followed by renewing or buying a gym membership, and people seldom follow through with their claim. The truly unfortunate problem with the nation is the impatient mindset that everyone has generated which can also be seen as a sense of entitlement. This mindset has created people’s belief that anything they want can be achieved if they cut the right corners, however, fitness rarely if ever works that way. There are several key factors to achieving and maintaining a healthy level of fitness such as doing a reasonable amount of cardiovascular work, building muscle through resistance training, and balancing personal nutrition.

The first piece of the puzzle to staying healthy is to at least occasionally if not regularly do cardiovascular exercises. Good examples of cardio workouts are running, jumping rope, and swimming. The purpose of the cardiovascular exercises is to raise one’s pulse and burns calories. The main goal of cardio is to shed layers of fat that would otherwise obscure your dream physique. It’s also important to stay hydrated when exercising which can be overlooked by many people. One aspect about cardio that people don’t realize is that it can actually be counterproductive when trying to build muscle because it consumes calories and the human body will burn muscle if it needs fuel. Performing cardiovascular exercises is definitely important in achieving a healthy level of fitness, but there are other parts that are just as integral.

The next piece of fitness puzzle is to use resistance training to build muscle. Resistance training can be anything from lifting weights to using only body weight as a means to build and define muscle. Resistance training doesn’t usually get the blood flowing as well as cardiovascular exercises but the increased muscle mass will generally provide a higher metabolism because the body will burn more calories to maintain more muscle. The main flaw of resistance training is mastery of technique which so few people realize is key to maximizing their time and reducing the probability of injury. Many people believe that by swinging heavier weights around they are building more muscle than a person who uses lighter weights and proper technique. However, the best muscle gains will come from slower, more controlled motions which will make more use of a person’s muscles rather than the momentum of the weights. Mixing in a day or two of relatively intense resistance workouts can have a significant impact on a person’s level of fitness.

The final and possibly most important piece is maintaining a balanced diet. The plight of Americans: eating right and eating reasonable proportions. A great deal of people misunderstand the concept of food and eating properly. Many will think that by not eating breakfast or skipping out on a meal that they are going to lose weight, however they will be sadly mistaken in that their metabolism will slow down to conserve calories like an anti-starvation mechanism. Along with food choice, not eating throughout the day may be one of the biggest nutritional problems. The best method is to eat multiple small meals in order to control hunger and keep the metabolism up and running, especially when a skipped meal earlier in the day usually means a person will tend to eat a larger meal later in the day. There are so many different methods of dieting it can be overwhelming, but different diets usually have different purposes. A person should choose a diet based on their fitness goals and they may not even need a specific diet, just to monitor what they’re eating and make smart decisions.

When the three puzzle pieces come together it’s very difficult not to be in good shape. Cardiovascular exercise, resistance training, and proper nutrition can be an almost infallible pathway to a healthy fitness level and a much sought after physique. The only missing ingredient to achieving any fitness goal is the motivation to pursue it, without a true sense of dedication a person will scarcely ever reach their goals.