How To Get In Shape Quicker

Out of all the questions asked by people in relation to exercise and fitness, the most common by far is “how do I get in shape faster?” I think the first question to address should be “what do I mean by getting in shape?” And to be honest, the only person who can really answer this question is yourself. To some people, “in shape” means fitting into that swimming suit you love so much by the time summer comes around. To others, “in shape” means being able to win a weightlifting championship. Clearly, these two things will require completely different workout routines and have entirely different timeframes. However, there are some universal tips or rules of thumb that you can follow to get into shape quicker, no matter what your fitness goals are.

Keep reading to learn more about these and contact Fitness Specialists today if you’re looking to start your own in-home gym in Lubbock, Odessa, Amarillo, or Midland, Texas.

Push yourself

The first step to getting in shape quickly is to learn how to push yourself more. Believe it or not, what many people think of as a tough workout is probably not much of a workout at all compared to what the most physically fit people in the world are doing. Generally, it’s not a great idea to compare yourself to others, especially in the realm of fitness where we all have very different bodies and it’s nearly impossible for people to have the same physique as any other person.

However, in this case, I think it’s important to make note of how hard the people around you are working and try to work even harder. And that doesn’t necessarily mean staying at the gym longer or going more frequently. Studies have shown that the workouts that are most beneficial to your body and the ones that will bring you quick progress are the high-intensity ones.

So what does this mean? Well, if it’s your goal to lose weight, running 10 miles a day is probably not your best option. Instead, try running 3 miles fartlek style. What is fartlek you might ask? Fartlek is a funny Swedish word that means “speed play.” In other words, instead of running a steady pace for a long distance, you’ll be doing interval training. You can either do your intervals by time or by distance. For example, you could run “on” for one minute, then “off” for three minutes. Where “on” means running fast or sprinting and “off” means jogging. On the other hand, you could go by distance running “on” for 400 meters and then “off” for 800 meters.

Take your next workout to figure out what works for you and make it a routine. You’ll get in shape much faster with this technique.

Do full-body workouts

“In-shape” generally means full body. So it wouldn’t make much sense for you to work one part of your body really hard then leave the rest of it out of shape, that’s typically not what people want. Try to focus on full-body workouts to accomplish this. If you’re already doing fartleks like we talked about before, then you’re already doing this, however, there are a lot of other full-body exercises you can be doing. If you haven’t tried them before, rowing machines are great for full-body workouts. Not only is rowing a cardio exercise, but you’ll also be working your arm strength, back, legs, and glutes. There are a lot more full-body exercises out there like squats, burpees, and pushups that you can work into your routine as you see fit (pun intended).

If you have to resort to isolated exercises or you want to build muscle quicker in certain areas of your body, I would recommend making them high intensity and not doing them for too long. This way, you’ll be able to spend more time on your full-body routine. This is especially important if your main goal is to lose weight because isolated exercises don’t burn as much fat as full-body exercises do.

Don’t give up

At the end of the day, getting in shape isn’t something that you can do overnight. Even if you’re doing all the right things, it’s probably going to take you months or years to get to where you want to be. Get good at micromanaging your daily routine and really concentrating on eliminating as much fat and calories as you can from your diet. Sometimes it’s hard to see progress from your standpoint unless you’re actually tracking the data and know how much weight your losing or how much muscle you’re gaining, so don’t lose hope.

Contact Fitness Specialists

Thanks for taking the time to read our blog here at Fitness Specialists. One great way to get in shape more quickly is to make your own in-home gym by purchasing your own fitness equipment. Fitness Specialists offers all types of equipment including ellipticals, treadmills, and much more. If you have any questions or you’re ready to get started, contact us today.

If you’d like to learn more about getting in shape, read part two and three of this blog series.