Tips for maximizing your fitness…

May is National Physical Fitness and Sports Month — a time to discover and promote the benefits of living an active lifestyle. This guide provides tips for maximizing how you work out or play sports so that you can pursue lifelong physical fitness. 

For a well-rounded fitness regimen, consider including a healthy mix of the following types of activity:

1. Cardio and Conditioning

Cardiovascular activity activates both your pulmonary and vascular systems — pushing these systems to their limits to optimize your health and resistance to disease.

Examples of cardio activity include:

According to the CDC, adults should do at least two 30-minute strength training sessions per week to promote lifelong health. Lifting weights or doing resistance exercises a few times per week provides you with the strength you need to have good balance, coordination, and mobility into old age.

Choose exercises that target your major muscle groups, performing 2-4 sets of 8-12 repetitions each.

An intense workout is considered any activity that raises your heart rate to 75-85% of its maximum. 

To calculate your maximum heart rate, subtract your age from the number 220. For example, if you are 45, then your maximum heart rate is 175 beats per minute. Therefore, a 45-year-old is exercising intensely when their heart rate is between 131 and 148 beats per minute.

High-intensity interval training (HIIT) is one way to incorporate intense exercise into your workouts. Aim for 1-2 weekly sessions of HIIT or endurance training.

Balance is your ability to remain in control over your body movements and coordination is the ability to move multiple body parts with control and efficiency.

Regularly practicing balance and coordination exercises can help:

Prevent injury, illness and workout-related pain with active recovery. 

Active recovery is a light cool-down that prevents the buildup of lactic acid that leads to delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS). Stretching, foam rolling, walking and gentle swimming are all ways to actively recover from physical activity.

For all your physical fitness and recovery needs, visit Relax The Back. Shop our collection of fitness and therapy products online, including our selection of inversion tables and stretchers, as well as massage guns and rollers for healthy, active recovery. 

Find a retail location near you or book a virtual appointment with a wellness specialist today.