What do have fit people in common? Here are their secrets.
Eat Real Food
The fittest know how their nutrition should respond to their workout routine. While protein shakes can help, they know they have to eat real food in order to build a sustainably fit lifestyle. By eating real food ,we mean avoiding the processed stuff when you are feeling hungry. Go for fruits, vegetables, meats, whole grains and healthy fats. You eat what is most nutritionally dense, and avoid empty calories.
Track Everything
Most fitness buffs will tell you what their go-to fitness tracking method is. It can be an app, or a fitness watch, or even old-fashioned tables. But tracking everything will keep you conscious of what your fitness goals are and what you are doing on a daily basis to achieve them. You know what days you lagged, what days you met, and what days you surpassed your fitness and exercise goal. Many go the extra mile to track water consumption and nutrition as well, which is a huge plus to meeting their goals. There are a lot of health and fitness apps as well as fitness gadgets that can simplify your life and keep on track of your goals.
Sleep
We need sleep to grow muscle and repair tissue, which is the key to achieving the body composition we want. We all know how it feels to pull an all-nighter and struggle through the next day. Sleep makes us feel refreshed, and highly fit people respect their hours of slumber and wake up energized the next day to hit the gym, pool, court or track.
Don’t Postpone That Workout
When fit people have had a bad day, or had a long night, they don’t use it as an excuse not to work out. There is no time like now. Having a regular time to exercise every day makes it easier to make sure you don’t have conflicting activities. Putting it off even “until later” will make it easier to skip it all at once. And once you skip a day, you might even skip “this week” and promise to start again on Monday. Make a commitment to working out and stick to it. If you are having trouble staying motivated, follow the next tip.
Workout with Friends
Finding a good workout buddy makes all of the difference. Even the fittest people experience moments of low energy or negative talk. Finding a workout buddy helps bring your motivation back up when you are down. Having a gym buddy also helps the time pass more quickly, since working out becomes social.
Take Few Supplements and No Magic Pills
Certain supplements can be helpful to ensure you are getting the nutrition you need to keep your body functions optimal and your muscle development at its peak. Fitness buffs don’t trust any pill, drink, or mix that promises to solve all your weight loss or fitness problems. They know that supplements can be a plus depending on what their personal goals are, but that the driver should be their own sweat and musclework.
Drink Enough Water
Staying hydrated is the key. It’s very likely you’ll see highly fit people toting around a water bottle everywhere, sipping from it often. Your body is between 60 to 70 percent water, and when you are dehydrated, you throw your bodily functions off balance. Especially if you are going to be losing liquids through sweat, it is important you replace the lost liquid by staying hydrated. If you are doing intense exercise, you might need electrolyte replacement as well soon after you finish. This doesn’t mean you need to choose sugary sports drinks to replace electrolytes. The American Council on Fitness recommends a range of foods and drinks that can help you replace electrolytes lost during exercise. These include dill pickles, tomato juice, bananas, yogurt, milk and kale among others.
Consult Fitness Sites Often
Fitness buffs tend to have their go-to fitness sites and blogs where they get the latest research on exercise techniques, useful products, technology, workouts and more. They are able to connect with other like-minded people to share tips, ask questions and motivate each other. Check out some of the top fitness blogs we love by clicking here.
