5 Fitness Tips to Help You Stay Fit For Life

Getting in shape is one of the best things that a person can do for themselves. Being fit and getting regular exercise can help you to live a healthier and a longer life. Plus, it just gives you more energy to do everything that you do in your daily life. Here are some fitness tips to help you maintain your exercise program.

1. The first thing to remember is to make sure that you have the correct footwear for what you are doing. If you are running, walking or doing some sort of cardiovascular workouts - you need to be wearing shoe that are made for your activity. They should have the stability that you need and the cushioning. You don't want to skimp in this area. Proper shoes are extremely important.

2. In addition to proper shoes, make sure that you are wearing the correct clothing. You want to wear loose fitting clothing that you can move in comfortably. Also, you want to invest in clothing that is especially made for working out. Technical clothing is made from materials that "wick" moisture away from your body as you sweat. This will keep you more comfortable. If you've even worked out or ran in a cotton tee shirt - you understand. Cotton will get wet, stay wet, gets heavy - and you will be pretty miserable during your exercise.

3. Cardio workouts are important - but you also want to incorporate other things into your routine. For example, if you do some weight training in addition to your cardio - you will burn more calories. Plus, weight training also helps work the muscles that are not used during your walks or runs - and will help give you more strength and endurance.

4. It's important to stay motivated. You can do this by setting goals for yourself. For example, if you are running or walking - have a goal of a certain amount of mileage that you can to achieve. You can have a goal of extra repetitions if you are doing crunches or some sort of weight work. Be creative and set some achievable goals - but goals that will make you work a little harder. You'll feel SO great when you reach that goal!

5. Make sure that you are warming up before your workouts and cooling down after your workouts. You may not think that it's important - but it is. You can do some light stretches or a short walk to warm up and cool down. It helps to keep you injury free!