How To Create A Fitness Plan To Reach Your Fitness Goals

Today, more people then ever are overweight, including children as well as adults. It seems that everyone realizes how important it is to stay fit and healthy yet reaching fitness goals is harder than ever to achieve. Just like any other accomplishment in life, reaching your fitness goals requires a carefully enacted plan. If you want to see your fitness goals become a reality, you will first have to devise a plan of reaching those goals and adhere to it.

One of the most common setbacks to reaching fitness goals occurs when one fails to stick to their plan. However, it is important to realize that setbacks will occur, and that no matter what happens it is vital to pick up where you left off and start working towards your goals again.

The fist step in creating your fitness plan is to assess what your goals are. You should also make sure that your goals are realistic. There are many fad diets and crash weight loss plans that will ensure that you lose weight rapidly, but these are not recommended as part of an overall fitness plan. You may find that it is beneficial to discuss your fitness goals with your doctor or health care provider to ensure that you create a plan that is realistic and tailored to your medical conditions or health care needs. Also, you should have your doctor or health care provider’s approval before beginning any fitness plan.

Once you have determined your fitness goals and have cleared these with your physician, you should begin implementing your plan. If you goal is to lose a certain amount of weight, then your plan should include the steps necessary to lose that weigh in a reasonable amount of time. You may be surprised to realize that losing weight is purely a scientific and mathematic formula. By increasing your exercise, and reducing your caloric intake, you can create a plan that will enable you to reach your goals safely and wisely. Further more, when you take the time to plan your fitness goals, you have a greater chance of keeping the weight off.

How To Jump Rope For Health And Fitness

Rope skipping is an excellent cardiovascular exerciseaccording to the U.S. Olympic Committee Sports MedicineCouncil. It is far less hard on the muscles and bones thanjogging.

While running or jogging, each foot absorbs up to 5 timesthe body weight from the force of the impact as the foothits the ground. This force of hitting the ground can causedamage to the feet, ankles, hips and knees. But in ropeskipping, the shock of hitting the ground is absorbed byboth feet allowing the calf muscles to control and absorbthe impact.

According to the American College of Sports Medicine,skipping rope is among the activities it recommends foraerobic conditioning. In order to improve heart and lunghealth, it must be performed 3 to 5 times per week for 12 to20 minutes an hour, and at an intensity that will get theheart rate into training range.

To find your training range subtract your age from 220.Multiply that figure by .9 to get the high range. Multiplyby .6 to get low range. With this formula a person 25 yearsold must keep their aerobic heart pulse between 117 and 176to be gaining benefit. Aerobic benefits do not diminish ordecline with training as in other aerobic activities.

From an energy standpoint, jumping rope at about 130revolutions per minute is similar to running at 6 miles perhour or cycling 12 miles per hour. Just 10 minutes of ropeskipping is equivalent to a one-mile run.

When choosing a rope, hold the rope and stand with your feeton the middle. If the length is correct, the handles shouldjust reach your armpits. Handles should be thick andcomfortable.

Look for a cushioned surface to jump on. A largerectangular carpet remnant is ideal. Hard surfaces likeconcrete should be avoided.

Choose well-cushioned athletic footwear just as you wouldfor walking or running.

Start slow by gradually increasing session time over 2 to 3weeks to let your leg muscles get accustomed to the extraexercise.

Many adults give up rope jumping because they areuncoordinated and miss too many steps. But this improveswith time and practice.