Are you in good shape but want to get into better shape for a 5K or perhaps a marathon? If so, then consider the pieces of advice in the below article. These tips can help you get into the top notch shape in order to compete in your particular race.

Make sure and find a workout routine that you enjoy so you can keep doing it. If you don’t enjoy your exercise, chances are you are going to find reasons to stop doing it. Try out different exercises and different times to see what works for you. It may be that zoning out on the elliptical does the trick or taking a morning swim keeps you motivated. Jogging around the track before dinner could be your ticket to weight loss. Find what keeps you going back for more and you’ll be well on your way to losing weight.

A great way to get fit is to join a recreational basketball team. All of the running up and down the court will guarantee you’ll get in shape. Joining a recreational basketball team can also be a lot of fun if you have friends that join it also.

A great way to remain consistent with your fitness regimen is to enlist a friend or relative to exercise with you on a regular basis. Getting another individual involved in your fitness journey helps you stay accountable in terms of the goals you have set, and also sets the stage for a bit of healthy competition to see who achieves the most impressive results.

Keep track of your workouts. Keeping a daily or weekly log, tracking all of your workouts, ensures that you are making progress in your exercises and it will help hold you accountable. Write down things, such as duration, frequency, weight sizes and sets, reps and how your workout made you feel.

A great tip to help you get fit, is to invest in some body fat calipers. Scales only tell you how much you weigh and it’s common knowledge that muscle ways more than fat. Body fat calipers will tell you what percentage of your body consists of fat.

To relieve pain from arthritis, do finger exercises. Finger exercises work the small muscles in your fingers and hand to relieve stiffness and pain. Although it may seem silly, doing finger exercises is an important part of any fitness workout plan if you are an elderly or young person with arthritis.

Try counting backwards instead of forwards when you work out. For example, pick the number of repetitions you want to do and start there. That way, you will know how many really remain, and you will stay motivated to complete them.

Take a day off each week. This will allow your body some much needed rest, but it will also give you a chance to think about something other than fitness for a while. That way, you can return to your fitness program with fresh eyes to see if you’d like to try something different or want to change a few things.

Motivation is necessary to diet successfully. Seeing and feeling the results of your efforts provides one type of motivation. Instead of weighing yourself, gather up some clothes that are a little tight for you. Put the outfit on once a week so you can see and feel the difference in your weight.

Strength training can help you become a faster runner. A recent study showed strengthening exercises helped runners improve their time. Runners who did eight weeks of resistance training were able to shave time off of their run. The stronger you are, the faster you will be able to run.

You will not lose fat by only working out your abdominal muscles. Studies have shown that it takes around 250,000 crunches to burn just one pound of fat. That is the equivalent of you doing 100 crunches everyday for 7 years straight. Instead of doing all that work, have a variety of areas targeted in your workout and you will see more instantaneous results.

To greater increase your range of motion, do your crunches with a rolled up towel or small exercise ball tucked under your lower back. You will work harder to keep your balance, which helps your body stretch. The chance you will get injured from this method is minimal, as well.

When training with weights, it is very important to keep your workouts under one hour in length. After lifting weights for 60 minutes, your body starts producing an excess amount of the stress hormone cortisol. Cortisol has a testosterone-blocking effect and can cause you to lose muscle. If you want to increase muscle size and strength, keep your workouts short and intense.

Therefore, if you follow these tips, you will be well on your way to getting into the shape you need to be in for your race. These tips show that you don’t have to be in your teens or twenties in order to compete in a 5K or even a marathon. You just need to put in hard work, and the results will follow.