10 Tips to Up Your Exercise Game at Any Level

In this article:

• Being physically active is one of the most effective ways to support physical and mental health. Exercise is safe for almost everyone.
• Whether you’re a beginner, you’ve lapsed for a while, or you’re a daily exerciser, there are ways you can up your exercise game to get better results.
• Suggestions include making exercise a habit, trying new activities, increasing your intensity, and adding a warm-up and cool-down to workouts.
• Other ways to support your activity include adding a social element and making other healthy lifestyle choices like eating well and sleeping enough.
• Lark can help you manage health and weight with or without GLP-1s as you log food, get tips for eating healthier, and make small changes that can turn into healthy habits.

Being physically active is one of the most effective and safest ways to promote health. The Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans say exercise is safe for nearly everyone. In most cases, more is better.

Here are some benefits of physical activity, as listed in an article in BMC Public Health.

• Weight control
• Lower risk for cardiovascular disease
• Lower blood pressure, blood sugar, and inflammation
• Reduced cognitive decline
• Improved mental health
• Reduced chronic pain
• Improved muscle and bone strength

Here are some tips for upping your exercise game, from beginners to advanced exercisers.

1. Get started

To get more from exercise, you have to get started. “Getting started” means different things to different people and situations. Here are some examples.

• For a beginning exerciser or someone who has been sedentary for a while, it may mean buying a pair of walking shoes or walking down the driveway and back.
• For someone with a health condition, it may mean asking your healthcare provider for clearance or figuring out which types of activities are possible.
• For an experienced or regular exerciser, it may mean getting out the door and committing to at least 5-10 minutes of activity.

Moving daily is essential for getting the most benefits of exercise.

2. Make a habit

A habit is something you do routinely. It takes little thought that it’s easy to do and hard to forget, just like brushing your teeth each day or picking up a spoon when it’s time to eat soup. When exercise becomes habitual, it takes less mental energy to work out. That leaves you the capacity to push yourself a little more so you can go longer, work at a higher intensity, or try something new and more challenging.

Here are some tips for establishing exercise as a habit.

• Use habit stacking, which means you tie your exercise session to something you already do. For example, you might tie a brisk 15-minute walk to parking the car when you arrive at work.
• Do it at the same time most days so it becomes part of your routine. For example, you might get in the habit of taking a 10-minute walk and doing a 10-minute weight training session most days when you wake up.
• Record your exercise in a visible place, like a wall calendar. That way, you can see the days you’ve exercised and be reminded to get in a workout that day.

It can take 20, 50, or more days to establish a habit, so keep trying!

3. Add variety

New activities can be challenging, motivating, and satisfying. They can also build different muscles and skills, and lead to new mental and physical benefits. Adding in a different type of activity as little as once a week can make your entire exercise routine more rewarding.

Here are some examples of activities you can add to your routine to boost benefits.

• Walking or running outdoors or on a treadmill
• Hiking
• Using a gym machine like a rower, elliptical trainer, or upright or recumbent stationary bike
• Personal trainer or taking a group fitness class like Zumba, aerobics, boot camp, kickboxing, or step aerobics
• Cutting wood, raking leaves, and shoveling snow or dirt
• Kayaking, canoeing, surfing, snowboarding, skiing, or skiing
• Specialty classes like circus classes, fencing, or tightrope walking

Keep trying until you find one or more that you like, and remember that it may take a few tries before a certain type of activity feels good and becomes enjoyable.

4. Increase your intensity

Increasing intensity can strengthen your heart and improve blood sugar control. For complete beginners, getting off the couch means increasing the intensity. As you get going, you might start to walk, pedal, or swim faster or increase the incline or resistance on a treadmill or elliptical trainer. If you’re doing strength training, you might decrease your resting time, or add aerobic exercises like treadmill walking or cycling between sets.

If you’re a regular exerciser, consider adding high-intensity intervals to increase intensity. It can also help you go for longer periods of time by making workouts more interesting.

If you’re in shape to do so, consider doing a 5-10-minute warmup, then adding up to 10

higher-intensity intervals. Aim for 30-60 seconds of higher-intensity effort, like faster walking or jogging, harder cycling, or higher-resistance pedaling on the elliptical trainer. Then go at a lower effort for 1-2 minutes before going back to a higher-intensity interval. Finish with a 5-10-minute cool-down.

5. Hydrate

Dehydration during a workout can be dangerous. Even mild dehydration can lead to fatigue, which can make you stop earlier than you might otherwise have done. After you work out, staying hydrated can facilitate muscle repair and recovery.

Aim for at least 64 ounces of water or other fluids daily. You may need more when it’s hot or humid, and additional amounts can support weight loss and maintenance. Try drinking regularly throughout the day. Add a cup or two of water about an hour before working out and again 15 minutes before working out. Then drink 8 ounces of water every 15-20 minutes while working out hard and sweating. It’s also important to drink extra to replace fluids lost while sweating.

6. Try circuit training

Circuit training can make exercise more fun and productive. It involves doing different exercises one after the other. You might do each exercise for 30 or 60 seconds before moving to the next. With circuit training, you can mix up strength and aerobic training. For example, a circuit may include 30 seconds of these exercises after a good warmup.

• Walking on a treadmill
• Bicep curls
• Squats
• Cycling on a stationary bike
• Crunches
• Shoulder presses
• Jumping jacks
• Planks
• Side lunges
• Walking on a treadmill at an incline
• Hamstring curls
• Tricep dips
• Cycling on a stationary bike

Finish with a cool-down.

7. Involve others

Involving others can have all kinds of benefits for your exercise program. Here are some ways people can help you.

• Increase consistency by increasing accountability when you tell people that you’ll work out or when you schedule workouts with a buddy, a teacher, or a trainer
• Increase duration by making workouts more fun
• Increase intensity by pushing you or motivating you to follow a workout buddy or a fitness instructor’s lead
• Inspiring you when you trade stories of workouts with a friend, colleague, or friend in a trusted online setting
• Helping you overcome barriers by offering ideas

Exercise buddies, personal trainers, group fitness instructors, neighbors, friends and family, and reputable online support groups are some of the people who can be part of your exercise program directly or indirectly.

8. Work with your body

Most American adults have overweight, prediabetes, or another type of chronic condition. Millions of Americans have chronic pain. While it can be harder to exercise with some conditions, Mayo Clinic says it is often possible and even helpful. Often, pain decreases when you do appropriate activities.

Talk to your healthcare provider about which activities are safe for you. When you try them, do so cautiously and listen to your body. You may need to make modifications. Over time, you may find that your conditions are more manageable and exercise improves your quality of life.

9. Warm up and cool down

A warm-up gets your body ready for activity, and a cool-down safely brings your body back to a resting state. A good warm-up and cool-down make your workout more enjoyable and safer.

They also make it longer without adding much effort.

The purpose of a warm-up is to gradually increase your heart and breathing rates while preparing your muscles for the exercises to come. Start at a low intensity and work your way up for 5-10 minutes until you’re ready for your workout. At the end of your workout, slow down gradually until your breathing and heart rate come back to normal. You might include some stretching at the end of your cooldown.

10. Support your body the rest of the day and night

The better you feel, the more you can put into your exercise routine, and the more you can get out of your exercise routine.

Here are some ways you can support your body day and night.

• Choose nutritious foods, including lean proteins, vegetables, fruit, and whole grains
• Limiting foods that are fried, sugary, fatty, and high in refined starches
• Getting 7-9 hours of sleep
• Managing stress

These lifestyle choices to support your exercise routine can also support your other health and weight goals.

How Lark Can Help

Weight management and health are about daily choices, and upping your exercise routine can help support your goals. Your Lark coach is available 24/7 for nutrition and physical activity coaching and tracking. Lark can help you make healthy choices and establish habits that fit into your lifestyle so you can lose weight and keep it off with or without GLP-1 medications.

Click here to see if you may be eligible to join Lark today!

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