Exercises to keep fit. How to gain and improve good physical shape. Do not be afraid of strength exercises

Chocolate mousse with cognac

Chocolate is an amazing sweetness, it makes people happy. This property is especially relevant in winter and spring, when we are sorely lacking sun and. Today's - to increase the joy of life and a sense of happiness.

James Bond cocktails

The beloved by many adventure series about James Bond leaves no one indifferent. Even in small details, people look for zest.

Focaccia by Ann Barrell

Let's get acquainted with this masterpiece from Ann Barrell - that is, write down the recipe and cook great Italian focaccia bread - "bread on fire", as this word sounds in translation.

french tart

The French are great virtuosos in terms of baking, they are not limited to shortcrust pastry for tart. It can also be used as a basis puff pastry Let's get acquainted!

holiday recipes

On the holiday table there should be dishes that truly decorate the meal. Such important role can perform at least ... a festive aspic of beef (lean pork, turkey, rabbit, etc.), provided that you approach the preparation process creatively, with an unconventional approach!

Cooking foie gras at home classic recipe- quite possible. The only thing you need is to purchase fresh, fatty goose or duck liver in advance.

Millefeuille with salmon

Let's try to cook the same millefeuille, but not as a dessert, but as an appetizer or an unusual salad...

Sometimes we overload ourselves too much - with work, responsibilities, an abundance of tasks planned in the working calendar ... As a result, we get a completely unnecessary reaction of the body - we don’t have enough time for anything, fatigue knocks us down, the desire to create and even live disappears .. .

In such cases, fitness and sports fans offer classes in gym to bring joy back to life again through muscle fatigue. And at the same time - to improve physical fitness and appearance!

But there are other ways to keep yourself in great shape without wasting time on training mats in a dusty gyms, especially if you are not a fan of sports loads and do not really like to sweat for beauty and health. Here is their list:

How to keep fit, 5 secrets

Secret one - daily intensive walking

What is the essence of intensive walking? You must move as actively as possible. You can use everything that comes along the way: the staircase of your own entrance to the house, walking alleys in the park, climbing the bridges, a rope at hand, 10-minute walks after lunch ...

The challenge is to take 10,000 steps every day - that's when the body will get the necessary boost of energy, which can replace training in the gym.

The best routes for intensive walking can be made from the office home, from the park to Kindergarten, from home to beauty salon or a hairdresser... Think about it and make up your own route of movement, along which you can walk 10 thousand times a day. In time, such walking should take 40-45 minutes, and its pace should warm the muscles of the thighs.

The second secret is healthy food

To keep your body in excellent physical shape, do not wait for a miracle - just eat healthy food th (vegetable diet is a great way to lose weight quickly!) And that will be enough.

Avoid too sweet and too fatty, give preference to balanced healthy food - adhere to the principles of proper nutrition.

Try to do without snacks, but if it’s completely unbearable, in moments of hunger, offer your appetite a place for fresh dried fruits, and replace chocolates with nuts or almonds.

The third secret is small physical exercises to keep yourself in shape.

They will tone the muscles quite imperceptibly. What exercises can you try?

Exercise one: try brushing your teeth while sitting in a position as if you were sitting in a chair. Usually, brushing your teeth takes 2-3 minutes. This time is quite enough to train yourself in the position of a "sitting person" - the abdominal wall, buttocks, thigh muscles, and back muscles will receive a tone.

Exercise two: while taking a shower, exercise the muscles of the buttocks, tensing and relaxing them every three seconds. It is not difficult to do this and you can train your buttocks not only in the shower, but also while sitting at your desk, or while traveling in public transport...

The third exercise: muscle training abdominals. They are brought into a healthy tone by drawing the stomach inward during inhalation. breathe abdominal wall throughout the day and smartness will appear again!

Secret Four - Five Minutes of Yoga

An excellent exercise that allows you not to suffer on gymnastic mats and feel happy! Do it every morning on an empty stomach.

Standing straight, place your hands on your hips, make deep breath through the nose.

Exhale, bend your knees and lean forward, arching your back. Reach your chin to your chest. Hold your breath for 10-20 seconds in this pose. Repeat the exercise 5 times.

The pose helps to saturate the brain and body with oxygen, increases the production of serotonin, a hormone responsible for a good, joyful mood.

Secret number five - making love

Sex and whether lovemaking is a great method not only to burn extra calories, but excellent tool to strengthen immune system and raise vitality. In addition, during sex there is a significant release of endorphins, and they, in turn, help in the fight against stress, normalize sleep and mental condition person.

These little secrets were invented by people who know how to keep fit without diets and good tone. Use it, because you need to love yourself!

The detrimental effect of physical inactivity has led to a surge of all kinds of diseases, and especially the heart and musculoskeletal system. That is why maintaining a good physical shape is the key to successful disease prevention, great way improve health and increase the duration of an active life.

This material is devoted to how to get yourself in good physical shape and stay in it as long as possible.

The main forms and types of exercises to maintain good physical shape

Thanks to the achievements modern science and, especially, technology, we live in a world where every day there are more and more "gadgets" for comfort, which negates the need to use your own muscles. We are going against nature itself, which has laid in us the need to maintain the energy balance in the body by spending more calories than we consume. We have become lazy. All day long we sit much more than we move: at work, in the car, in front of the TV screen. Machines do all the housework for us, so even our own free time we spend without active movement. As a result, most people are in poor physical shape.

There is less and less attention paid to maintaining physical fitness: people do not like to move because there is no motivation. It is motivation that should help develop the habit of physical activity. Health and physical form are inseparable concepts, but, of course, physical exercises are not a panacea for all diseases, but one cannot neglect the opportunity to move given by nature. The body protests, finding itself without sufficient physical activity, which manifests itself from general malaise, lethargy, problems gastrointestinal tract, and ends with more serious problems, especially cardiovascular diseases. Back in the mid 90s. 20th century carried out Scientific research showed that 7 out of 10 men and 8 out of 10 women in the UK do not meet the minimum exercise, therefore, are not able to maintain a normal physical shape.

How to keep yourself in good physical shape to stay healthy long years? Three components will help you to always stay in good physical shape:

normal functioning of the cardiovascular and respiratory systems;
muscle tone, strength and elasticity;
joint mobility and body flexibility.

If you decide to take care of your health, but do not know how to get in good physical shape and maintain it, carefully study the material posted on this page.

How to get in good physical shape and stay in it

Most important component on the way to the implementation of the task "how to keep fit" - normal functioning of cardio-vascular system. Daily cardio exercises help effective work hearts, helping to pump more blood and delivering more oxygen to all organs of the body. How to be in good physical shape by doing cardio exercises, and which ones are the best? This is, first of all, fast walk, swimming, (exercise bike or riding a outdoors), Nordic walking, elliptical trainer, rowing, badminton, jogging. There is no need to achieve professional sports success, it is enough to improve and keep the work of the heart and lungs in good shape every day.

Exercises to maintain physical fitness provide:

reduced likelihood of developing cardiovascular disease thanks to normalization blood pressure, an increase in the content of "good" cholesterol in the blood, the expansion of coronary vessels;
faster calorie "burning" as increased oxygen use accelerates and regular exercise helps maintain high level metabolism;
a gradual increase in body endurance, which helps in performing everyday physical activities, such as: walking, climbing and descending stairs, carrying light weights, walking in terrain with small hills, etc .;
reducing the likelihood of occurrence and development varicose veins veins of the lower extremities;
improving the quality of life: a person feels energetic, alert, lethargy, drowsiness disappear, internal stress improves mood. These changes occur for two reasons. On the one hand, the assimilation of oxygen by the body increases, on the other hand, the production of “joy hormones” - endorphins, increases;
improvement of mental activity and the ability to concentrate, which occurs due to increased oxygen flow to the brain;
exercises for good physical shape, combined with a healthy diet, help improve digestion, which means getting rid of constipation and other problems with the gastrointestinal tract;
getting rid of excess body fat, strengthening muscles, the figure becomes more toned and slender, as a result, self-esteem increases;
the main forms and types of physical exercises help strengthen bones, which significantly reduces the likelihood of developing osteoporosis (especially in women);
improving the quality of sleep;
increase in sexual activity.

How to gain and improve good physical shape

The next components of good physical shape are muscle tone, strength and elasticity. The ability of muscles to contract, overcoming a certain load, in other words, muscle strength is one of the primary indicators of a person's health. Insufficient muscle strength associated with lack of exercise, stress on the muscles, leads rather quickly to the fact that the muscles lose their shape and become stiff. Realizing the task “how to improve physical fitness”, in order to strengthen the muscles, it is necessary to go in for swimming, perform exercises to increase the strength of individual muscles.

Benefits of muscle building exercises:

well-developed muscles make the figure more toned and proportional. Already after the first course of regular exercises for flexibility, a person notices how the muscles of the thighs, buttocks, arms tightened, the waist decreased, the stomach was pulled in;
an increase in muscle mass due to a decrease in fat, a person loses weight faster. This process associated with a more active metabolism in muscle tissue compared to adipose tissue;
strong muscles support the body in the correct position, help to draw in the stomach and straighten the shoulders;
reduces the likelihood of developing osteoporosis;
increases self-confidence, there is an improvement in overall well-being.

How to be in good physical shape and keep it for a long time

The third important component of good physical shape is the mobility of the joints and the flexibility of the body. This ability of the body to perform a wide variety of movements is necessary to maintain the muscles of the back, shoulders, arms, legs in correct condition. Muscle strength exercises are very important, but when developing muscles, we must not forget that they need regular stretching. How to maintain physical shape, gain body flexibility and joint mobility? This will help dancing, yoga or its varieties - Pilates and stretching.

Benefits of body stretching and joint mobility exercises:

tense and stiff muscles become smooth, in connection with which the overall appearance of the body improves;
reduction or complete disappearance of tension and excitement, a person becomes calm, relaxed;
improved posture due to stretching pectoral muscles, hip flexor muscles and other muscle groups;
the ability to bend, squat, reach up, walk up and down stairs without tension and effort;
the certainty of enjoying active physical activity (for example, swimming, badminton, dancing, sex).

Rule #1 from Helen Vivas:

Eat slowly and enjoy!

This is correct very versatile and saves in many cases. For example. If you are at a party in big company, where a very caring hostess constantly makes sure that the guests' plates are filled, yours will certainly not be empty! For the same time, compared to other guests, you can eat 2 or even 3 times less goodies, having time to analyze the usefulness of other dishes for your body and choose the most suitable one.

Rule #2 from Helen Vivas:

Don't put anything in your mouth! Think about what will make it to the toilet and what will be deposited on your waist and hips.

And now in more detail about Helen Vivas Weight Management Technique.

First you must understand what you want to achieve as a result.

Situation 1

You already have a catastrophic excess weight from 10 kg or more and you need to lose weight and maintain the desired weight.

In this case, we proceed in three stages. And in this situation, unfortunately, one cannot do without some stage of the diet. Excuse me, as they say, first you need a bitter pill.

Stage 1. Major bowel cleansing. Without this stage, all your efforts can be nullified. So get ready to spend the next weekend on the toilet. Not the most pleasant event in life, but necessary in this situation. Try to eliminate all solid and coarse foods from your diet 2-3 days before your cleanse. It is quite easy to live these 2-3 days on kefir, cottage cheese, broth, liquid puree soups, juices. On the day off with the prepared intestines, we proceed to its major cleaning.

The most humane and effective way is to buy Fortrans in the pharmacy in the amount of 3 sachets and take it according to the instructions. You need to take it from dinner, by the evening your intestines will be clean like a baby's. It is useful to repeat such cleaning once every six months for prevention, but do not get carried away.

The second way. Drink magnesia for 2 days and make an enema with a mug of Esmarch, dissolving in 2 liters of water in a tablespoon sea salt and soda. During these two days, drink plenty of water, at least 2 liters per day. It is good to add lemon juice to the water.

Stage 2. Actually we drop the hated kilograms. We choose for ourselves one of the emergency diets for weight loss presented on our portal Liki.Ru: tomato, rice, buckwheat, and strictly follow this diet, according to the recommended time. If necessary, repeat the diet after a month break.

Stage 3. To further maintain the achieved result and the subsequent gradual reduction of excess weight, we adhere to Helen Vivas nutrition methodology.

Situation 2

Your excess weight does not exceed 10 kg or is normal, and you only want to stabilize it and keep it normal and not turn into an “aunt” over the years.

Perform bowel cleansing 2 times a year as described above.
Analyze the contents of your refrigerator and cupboard and honestly answer the question: Which of their contents is good for your health and successfully reaches the toilet in time?

What I forever threw out of the refrigerator and cupboard for myself and what I replaced it with.

Shop mayonnaise. I dress all salads with homemade salad dressings from olive oil, lemon juice, balsamic, for a change I add herbs, orange juice, good wine vinegar, well, whatever comes to mind. Who's to say that these salads are less tasty? I allow self-made mayonnaise for some dishes, but this is a rare exception to the rule.
Shop ketchups. It's a bit tricky here because I spend 2 days in the summer making my own homemade tomato sauce. Yes, this takes time. But I am sure that such a sauce will not harm my health and will be made from natural tomatoes and peppers, and not from starch, dyes and stabilizers with who knows what.
All sausages. Few of us know what sausage is actually made of. Current guests allow only 10% meat content in them. An excellent alternative to any sausage is a good piece of beef fillet or tenderloin stuffed with garlic, seasoned various herbs and spices and baked in the oven in foil. Which is tastier: sausage made from soy and starch for the price of meat or fragrant beef fillet cooked with my own hands And do you know what it's made of? Say that there is no time for cooking, that sausage is fast? I do not agree with you. To prepare the meat for baking, you need no more than 10-15 minutes. Further, everything is done by the oven, which is why it is beautiful. You send food to the closet, set the timer and do your favorite things.
All kinds of lard and bacon, whatever they are called. Many people tell me that doctors recommend 30 grams of fat per day, that it contains vitamins that are indispensable to the body. Lie! The results of the game in a broken phone. Doctors admit that eating 30 grams of fat per day will not bring much harm to the human body, but at the same time it will not bring any benefit. And for a Russian person, where 30 grams, there are all 300 ... hence the consequences. Well, when you really want to, you can afford a couple of plates of good jamon, which has been cut into industrial environment. More than 10 grams, such a portion will not be. A jamon eaten with fragrant melon or added to a lettuce salad, it will only give pleasure and take off psychological stress ban.
Margarine. I don't even know why it's needed...
Any pastes of industrial production. With modern kitchen appliances, it is not so difficult to cook meat or liver pate yourself. It will take you 10 minutes to grind the meat with a blender or food processor and send everything to the oven! And your imagination will allow you to diversify them every time by adding new ingredients. And adding more vegetables, you will be able to control its calorie content.
Pork. Love beef and veal! Believe that a piece of beef boiled with large quantity greens and tomatoes will give you more pleasure than pork entrecote with a golden crust!
Candies. It was difficult to wean oneself from them, but only purely psychologically. Instead of sweets, there is always a beautiful vase with dried apricots and prunes. For a change, I also buy dried figs, pears, kumquats, dates, or just a ready-made mixture of dried fruits and nuts.

Now let's talk about those foods that you need to limit in your diet, but not completely abandon them.

Potato. Contains in its composition a large amount of starch and sugars, the concentration of which increases sharply when frying potatoes. Glycemic index fried potatoes higher than that of honey! Therefore, fried potatoes are completely excluded from the diet. Vegetable soups without potatoes are more aromatic, as the smell of boiled potatoes in them interrupts all other flavors. Therefore, we eat potatoes only in cases when we are not at all able to, well, or we want to treat ourselves to herring with potatoes. Only this pamper should be no more than once a week and no more than 2 small potatoes. If you are used to eating as a side dish mashed potatoes, a great alternative to it is mashed cauliflower. And tastier and healthier and the price is the same, except for a few winter months.
Bread. If you need to lose weight, then at this stage it is better to replace bread with bread rolls, if it is completely psychologically difficult for you to refuse bread. But better bread replace with a bowl of boiled rice. If you are satisfied with your weight, then just limit the consumption of bread. Bite it into very small pieces. Then one thin slice of bread will be enough for you for one meal. And here, attention! It makes absolutely no sense to replace the usual White bread to black. The difference in calories is so negligible that it makes absolutely no sense to limit yourself in traditional product. But wholemeal bread with bran will really only benefit you.
Pasta. You can, but right! Of course, a full plate of pasta seasoned with just cheese, butter and store-bought ketchup is nothing but extra pounds will not give you. Here is 100 gr. quality pasta (finished product), with a sauce of stewed vegetables, with homemade tomato sauce and will bring pleasure and will be completely processed by your body and utilized.
Butter. You should not completely exclude it from the diet, but also exceed daily allowance in the amount of 20 grams is also not needed. Many of the vitamins found in cereals are fat-soluble, and are best absorbed with milk fat. Therefore, a morning portion of buckwheat porridge or oatmeal with a piece of butter will bring more benefit than without it.

In my opinion, there are not so many products that you need to give up on the way to your health and attractive appearance. Moreover, in their taste preferences you can easily replace them.

Now let's talk about the technology of preparing healthy meals.

I think that I will not be very original here, but I replaced the pans in the kitchen with beautiful refractory baking dishes. And I definitely want to note that these are not thin Teflon molds, in which the product is often fried like in a pan, but ceramic and glass molds with a thick bottom and sides, ceramic saucepans with lids, in which the products languish, retaining all their flavors and turn out like in old Russian oven.

Meat and fish they are much tastier and healthier when baked in the oven with your favorite herbs and spices than pan fried. Worth a try! Try to bake a whole mackerel in the oven once, stuffing its belly with dill and lemon, adding a little Provence herbs, and you will never want to buy it smoked or salted or replace it with another fried fish! Well, slices of salmon or pink salmon baked in a pot with onions, peppers and tomatoes will only make your imagination work even more and experiment next time with more vegetables!

It is better to bake the meat in one piece, seasoning it with herbs, natural spices and wrapping it in foil. You can always take its thin slices with you on the road or to work, making a sandwich with vegetables out of them.

Vegetables. Often for cooking vegetable stew and ratatouille housewives use a frying pan, motivating that it is much tastier. I just put all the vegetables in a ceramic saucepan, and send the onion and garlic to the bottom, so they have time to fry a little, while the rest of the vegetables release their juice, I add a little vegetable oil, cover with a lid and send everything to the oven for 1 hour. During this time, I am doing what I love. The taste is the same as if I had been fumbling at the stove for this hour, frying all the vegetables and making sure that they do not burn.

Desserts. When I really want a sweet dessert, again I take my favorite oblong ceramic saucepan, put apples in it, how many fit, squeeze the juice of one or two oranges, season with cinnamon, add a few cloves, drip a little honey on the apples and send it to the oven. The time depends on the variety of apples. Need to be controlled. One and 20 minutes is enough, others languish for about an hour.

And now directly about the principles of eating

Do not mix proteins with carbohydrates! In other words, never mix meat or fish with starchy foods: potatoes, pasta, cereals in one meal. Acomponent to meat or fish should be vegetables and only vegetables! Accordingly, vegetables and fruits will also be the best components for pasta, potatoes and cereals.
Eat slowly, in small pieces, chewing thoroughly and enjoying the taste.
Eating is a pleasure, not stuffing your belly with food! Limit your portions. Eat like a Frenchwoman: just try it. Change the plates to smaller ones. For first courses, buy broth bowls with a capacity of no more than 200 grams, and do not eat beautifully and too much!
Eat at least 4 times a day, preferably 5. Breaks between meals should not be more than 3 hours. If you shorten your regular servings, then believe that very soon you yourself will feel the need to eat more often.
Review your schedule of the day, try to have dinner no later than 19 hours, if you can’t have dinner on time, replace dinner with a glass of kefir or yogurt. If you are not at all in mogota, eat a thin slice of cheese. Believe me, it only seems to you that you are very hungry and you need to eat tightly. Your stomach needs sleep at night, just like the rest of your body!
Drink more water. Water partially satisfies the feeling of hunger and helps correct exchange substances throughout the body.
Leaving the house for a long time, never eat up for the future. Better think about where you can eat, or take a bottle of drinking yogurt with you and a couple of your favorite fruits or dried fruits. Here let me have one more little advice: buy yourself a small, beautiful tin box for nuts and dried fruits that you really like and do not forget to fill it before leaving the house! And then you won't be embarrassed to take it out of your purse and have a snack.
Every day in your diet should be present dairy products, for supporting healthy microflora intestines and prevent putrefaction.
The main meals are breakfast and lunch. After 4:00 p.m., food should be more like light snacks, and the intestines should be preparing to rest at night along with the whole body.

Waking up in the morning drink a glass of water with the juice of half a lemon or a whole grapefruit or orange. Water will make your intestines work, and citrus juice will perfectly cleanse it and enrich the body with vitamins.

Be sure to have breakfast! A cup of coffee on the go does not count as a meal! There is not enough time for breakfast - get up 20 minutes earlier and cook! Charge your body in the morning necessary energy and learn how to enjoy your morning meals. In addition, an energy-rich breakfast will help you avoid feeling hungry until lunch and refrain from questionable snacks. Once you learn how to limit yourself to food before bed, you will start waking up with a slight feeling of hunger! A glass of cool juice on an empty stomach will only increase your appetite.

Breakfast. Several options for delicious and healthy breakfasts:

Classic variant: oatmeal, boiled in milk and water, taken in equal proportions. A cup green tea and a small piece of cheese. Once again I want to emphasize that oatmeal should be boiled in milk, normal fat content of 2-3%. Otherwise, the assimilation of all its useful properties will be negligible.
Any porridge with milk. To speed up the process of preparing breakfast, I soak any cereal in cold water in the evening. So excess starches are washed out of it and the cooking process takes a few minutes. I first boil the groats in water until fully cooked, then drain the water if necessary and add milk. In milk, cereals cook much longer. An excellent addition to sweet cereals will be fruits and dried fruits. For a change, porridge can be cooked not sweet, with the addition of vegetables, but milk fat top up with cheese. Buckwheat with the addition of eggs and cheese such as brynza - a great option for a healthy and energy breakfast!
Cottage cheese. An excellent breakfast rich in proteins and lactic acid bacteria necessary for the intestines will be a cottage cheese breakfast. Here you can also not limit the flight of your imagination. Cottage cheese with honey and dried fruits will satisfy your cravings for sweets. Cottage cheese also goes well with banana. And cottage cheese with finely chopped fresh cucumber, dill and a clove of garlic is a real delight for a gourmet. If the cottage cheese is too dry for you, dilute it with kefir.

Dinner

This is the main meal. But at the same time, you do not need to turn it into a feast. Portions of meat or fish in 200 gr, baked in the oven or boiled, with a side dish of stew or fresh vegetables enough for one meal. If you are used to eating soup for lunch, then here you can offer two options. First option. It's lightweight vegetable soup, or puree soup, no more than one cup. And a small portion of meat or fish with vegetables. The second option: a thick soup with legumes (beans, lentils), one portion of which is enough to saturate. This soup can be with pieces of meat.

It is advisable to eat fruits in between meals, so you will enjoy the taste and their assimilation more. will be more successful. Don't forget that they are high in sugar.

Dinner

This is the most easy reception food. It can be composed of various lungs vegetable salads with the addition of seafood or boiled pieces of fish. The taste of food from lettuce greatly enriches the addition of a boiled egg. At the same time, this allows you to satisfy your hunger and helps psychologically that you are not only chewing grass. Addendum a small amount cheese in a salad will also significantly enrich its taste and useful properties. No meat for dinner! We eat meat only for lunch!

Remember that good physical exercise, significantly satisfy the false feeling of hunger. Therefore, more movement, more sports and more fresh air into your life!

In addition to the mode and type of physical activity, there are many other factors that affect metabolism. Here are just a few of them: sleep, hormonal levels, thyroid function, structural features of the body, and so on. However, we will talk about this more below.

2. Don't compare yourself to others

There are no two people in the world who have the same metabolism. I mean, there are no single rules that would work equally well for each of us. To fully understand how your metabolism works for you, you need to study yourself, your characteristics and your genetics.

I have friends, they are twins. The guys have been actively training in the gym for about eight years. And you know what's most interesting? They have different training programs. Because one day they noticed that the program is one, but the result it gives is different.

Once again: there are no people with the same metabolism.

3. Calculators and formulas for calculating calorie expenditure are inaccurate

Such formulas and calculators have an error within 10%. That is, if the calculator shows 2,100 kcal, in fact it turns out that 210 kcal less (or more) was spent.

Such calculators can still help people with "predictable" metabolism, but most of us do not fall into this category. There are many people who have a higher or lower metabolic rate average norm. For them, the error in the calculations can reach 20%. That is, if the calculator shows 2,100 kcal, then 420 kcal may actually disappear. And that's too much big number to ignore it.

4. Sleep affects metabolism no less than nutrition and sports

More and more scientists around the world are talking about what leads to a set of overweight and is the cause of diseases associated with obesity.

Experiments show that when a person does not get enough sleep, his body begins to require more high-calorie food (and these are carbohydrates) and absorbs it worse, which leads to excess body fat.

5. Stress also affects metabolism

Prolonged promotes the deposition of fat in the abdomen. And the problem is that this type of obesity (compared to excess adipose tissue in the thighs and buttocks) is much more likely to lead to diabetes, heart problems and other diseases.

This is explained by the fact that during moments of stress in in large numbers the hormone cortisol is released, which disrupts the usual metabolic rate.

6. The body burns calories even when we do nothing.

There is such a thing as "basic metabolic rate" (BMR) - the number of calories that the body spends to maintain its vital functions. That is, this is the energy that we spend even when we do nothing. And most people on the planet spend the lion's share of their daily energy on this process.

7. Metabolism slows down with age

Approximately every 10 years, the metabolic rate drops. The older we get, the more effort we need to put in to keep fit. And interestingly, scientists still cannot figure out what causes the age-related decrease in metabolic rate.

8. Muscles consume more calories than fat.

The more slender and toned a person is, the more calories his body requires. This is because muscles need more calories than adipose tissue.

For this reason, the metabolic rate is calculated differently for women and men. For example, if you take typical man and a woman with the same weight, then a man will burn more calories per day. Only because in the body of a man, as a rule, more muscle mass than a woman.

9. Protein will help you build muscle, while cutting carbs will speed up the fat burning process.

In order to grow muscles, the body needs to be fed with protein. And to get rid of excess fat You need to reduce your carbohydrate intake.

The fact is that when we consume carbohydrates, our body begins to draw energy from them, instead of breaking down adipose tissue. In other words, if the goal is to get rid of body fat, then reducing the amount of carbohydrates will help to achieve this goal faster. And if you plan to build or strengthen muscles, then you need to ensure that the body receives enough protein.

10. Interval training and resistance training improve metabolism

And weight training is a signal for the body to build muscle mass. And the more muscle mass the better the metabolism. 25 minutes of intense activity with a change of activity is better than 45 minutes of monotonous exercise at a moderate pace.

If your goal is to speed up your metabolism, then the most fast way to achieve this - exercises that will help expend more energy.

11. Pre-Workout Coffee Helps You Burn More Fat

12. Protein Received Within 30 Minutes Post-Workout Promotes Muscle Growth

During training we destroy muscle tissue. And in order for the body to be able to restore it, it needs building material. This material for muscles is protein. Therefore, it is better to take protein no later than 30 minutes after the end of the workout.

13. An hour of walking on the street is more useful than an hour of thinking about the next diet.

Simple things like a walk in the fresh air or are much more reliable way burn more calories than trying to manipulate the metabolism through the selection of some diets and nutritional supplements.

Want to burn more calories? Get off three stops before your house and walk, refuse the elevator, take a walk before going to bed. Trust me, these are years of proven ways to burn more calories.

14. You will learn a lot more about your metabolism if you keep track of what you eat, what you do and your weight.

The best way to understand how metabolism works is to keep track of what you eat, what you do (physical activity) and your weight.

Watching how your body weight changes depending on what you eat and what type of physical activity you engage in will help you determine what changes you need to make to get closer to your desired result.

15. If it seems to you that you are doing everything right, but there is no result, consult a doctor

Metabolism and your ability to gain, lose and maintain your weight is much more complex than just controlling your calorie intake and expenditure and exercising.

Many factors affect the metabolic rate. You can eat right, exercise actively, but problems with thyroid gland, hormones or banal heredity will spoil the whole picture. Therefore, if you see that something is going wrong, consult a doctor, get tested to understand where the weak link is in your body.

And remember: you are different. And your metabolism.

Sport

Do you dream of always being in shape? Are you sure that good results can be achieved only by visiting gyms or using home exercise equipment? In fact, keeping yourself in shape is much easier, you don’t need a lot of money for this, you don’t need long time spend in gyms or buy expensive equipment. We invite you to learn about ways to keep fit, which are mostly completely free.

1) Walk the dog

Calories burned: Even if you just walk around your house, you will lose 65 kcal. If you walk regularly, you will be able to burn much more calories and not only look better, but you can also improve your mental activity.

2) Walk up the stairs

Calories burned: climbing stairs, you lose 12 kcal for each flight of stairs

3) Go Hiking

Find a pleasant place to walk near your home. Calories burned: Walking will burn an average of 390 calories every hour, but it all depends on your speed and terrain.

4) Spend time with your kids

Calories burned: If you go for a walk with your children or play active games with them, you can get rid of 261 kcal per hour.

5) Follow any orders

If the grocery store is not so close to your home and you only need to buy a couple of groceries, go there on foot instead of using transport. Calories burned: Even if you walk briskly or run at a slow speed, you can get rid of 461 kcal per hour.

6) Clean up the apartment

Calories burned: if you exercise physical work around the house - vacuuming, washing the floor, scrub pots - you can lose 296 kcal every hour.

7) Go swimming

Swimming has a positive effect on health and helps you keep fit. You can get rid of 263 kcal per hour if you just splash in the water, and if you swim, the number of kcal will decrease by 400 every hour.

Calories Burned: When walking, you will lose 24 kcal for every 5 minutes.

9) Do easy exercises

Do simple exercises - squats, push-ups, leg raises and pumping abs while watching TV or taking a break from work, if possible. Calories burned: doing squats, you will lose 5 kcal per minute.

10) Work with the press

There are a great many exercises - complex and simple, that help strengthen the press. If you hate doing regular crunches, you can choose to do any other exercises, such as cycling, which help get rid of excess belly fat and are also complex exercises for many other parts of the body. Calories burned: In 10 minutes of cycling, you lose 69 kcal.

11) Try lifting weights

Strength training does not necessarily require you to invest money. You can make your own dumbbells or kettlebells by using heavy objects or by filling simple plastic bottles sand or water. Calories burned: in 20 minutes of working with weights, you will lose 57 kcal.

12) Walk along the beach

Not only does the sand provide extra resistance, but walking along the sand along the beach will help strengthen your joints. Calories Burned: Some fitness experts have calculated that walking or running on sand burns twice as many calories as walking or running on flat ground.

13) Play volleyball

If you are on the beach, there are many ways to spend your holiday more actively. Why not play beach volleyball? Even if your beach does not have a special volleyball net, you can play without it, throwing the ball to other players. Calories burned: Playing volleyball on the beach will help you get rid of 200 kcal per hour.

14) Go to a large shopping mall

Walks in the big shopping center can be a great alternative if the weather isn't the best outside. You will not only benefit your health, but you will be able to study all departments in detail and make good shopping if you go around the whole store several times. Calories burned: Walking through a large shopping center, walking up stairs, you burn 250 kcal per hour.

15) Take part in active games

One of the popular games in the West, but not so well known in our country, is geocaching - an active game in which participants look for treasures and caches. If there are groups of people in your area who play these games, you can join them. This game will not only allow you to move more in search of your cherished goal, but will also help you learn a lot about the area in which you live. You can get rid of the same number of calories as when riding a bike.

16) Mow the grass with a lawn mower

Calories burned: 287 kcal per hour.

17) Stretch

Calories burned: in 20 minutes of such exercises, you will lose 87 kcal. These exercises do not do much to shed fat, but stretching is very important for warming up and preparing for physical activity.

18) Include jumping in your training program

The exercise "puppet" includes bouncing with raising your arms up and spreading your legs shoulder-width apart. This is a very effective aerobic exercise that helps to get rid of excess calories: 88 kcal in 10 minutes.

19) Participate in volunteer movements

Calories burned: If you can offer your help as a volunteer by participating in various charitable programs, you will benefit not only others, but also yourself. Physical work will help you burn 362 kcal per hour. If you help prepare food and distribute it to the poor, you will burn 139 kcal per hour.

20) Dance

Calories burned: if you dance at home for at least 30 minutes, you can get rid of 196 kcal.

21) Take up Zumba dancing

This type of sports dance is a specially designed fitness program based on Latin American dances, which gives good results. Calories burned: For a 90-minute workout, you will get rid of 500-800 kcal.

22) Try easy yoga poses

You can start by doing simple yoga asanas while watching TV or listening to the radio. You don't need any equipment for this. For example, one easy pose is tree pose (standing on one leg), which helps maintain balance. Calories burned: Medium poses that you perform for an hour will help you get rid of 348 kcal or more.

23) Go in for sports tourism

If running in the area closest to your home seems boring, you can find new places for yourself. Calories burned: You lose 231 calories in half an hour of running.

24) If you have a bike, use it for its intended purpose as often as possible.

Calories burned: When cycling at 20 km/h, you can lose about 574 kcal per hour.

25) Don't use transport to have a cup of coffee with a friend at lunchtime, it's better to walk

Calories burned: walking will help you get rid of 61 kcal in 20 minutes

26) Get busy with gardening or housework in the morning

Weeding, sweeping or cleaning the house are great exercises to do in the morning. Calories burned: 313 kcal per hour.

27) Play basketball at your local park or playground

Calories burned: 20 minutes of play will help you get rid of 148 kcal.

28) Play football whenever possible

Calories burned: Play football with friends or even practice hitting the ball with one game partner. Calories burned: 20 minutes of playing football burns 154 calories. If you get multiple teams to play and compete, you can burn even more calories.

29) Visit Public Tennis Courts

Invite a friend to play tennis with you at the nearest tennis courts in your area. Calories burned: Playing tennis allows you to get rid of 529 kcal per hour.

30) Go to the library

In libraries you can find not only books, but also useful educational CDs that you can rent. Calories burned: it all depends on what sports programs you choose for yourself. For example, 10 minutes of Pilates will help you burn 50 kilocalories.

31) Spend your work breaks actively

Calories burned: 42 kcal for every 10 minutes of vigorous walking during lunch break.

32) Get off the vehicle a few stops early

If you get to work by bus, subway or train, get off 1-2 stops early and walk. Calories burned: 72 kcal for every 20 minutes of walking before work

33) Instead of regular PC games, play next generation consoles that offer action games

The new generation of consoles offer a lot of interesting computer games that allow you to move more: tennis, bowling and so on. Calories burned: playing such moving games computer games, you lose from 20 to 176 kcal in half an hour.

34) Water games

Going on vacation to the sea or to the nearest body of water from home, you have the opportunity to play water games, ride a surfboard or kayak. Usually such boards and boats are not cheap, but you can rent them.

35) Make repairs in the apartment

Remodeling is a great idea to update your home and spend time more actively. Calories Burned: Depending on the repair work being done, you burn between 100 and 200 calories per hour.

Today you can find on the Internet a great variety of different programs developed by famous athletes, models and so on. You can choose any that you like, or combine different programs to make your workouts more varied.

37) Do water aerobics

Calories burned: even the most simple exercises performed underwater will be more effective than on land. You can lose 261 calories per hour of exercise.

38) Find exercises online

If you can't afford to go to the gym or hire a trainer, you can use free advice online specialists. Many of them offer such free step-by-step programs on TV, they can often be found on the Internet.

39) Join a group

In many cities, people organize various free clubs, giving people the opportunity to study and socialize. Also, exercising in groups or at least in the company of a friend can help you stay motivated to play sports.

40) Try ballet barre exercise

Special programs that include elements of ballet, Pilates and strength exercises help to keep the muscles of the legs in good shape. These exercises are more convenient to do with a barre, but you can try them at home without a barre. Calories burned: in an hour of such activities, you can get rid of 316 kcal.