Want a secret of better body fitness routine and adding some extra hours to your life?
It’s stamina!
Here is another blog I wrote a while back that can help you boost your stamina. Do give it a read!
In most body fitness exercise routines, the body lacks the ability to sustain itself for a long period of time using its own fat as a fuel.
The following exercises adjust both factors by focusing on stamina while challenging us both physically and mentally.
The body fitness exercises that I have mentioned in this blog should be performed every 4 – 6 weeks for a total of 90+ minutes.
Ideally, I suggest you do the stamina routine on an empty stomach, or even better, while fasting. This will help your body burn fat to gain energy, instead of burning sugar.
Bike rides, hiking, walking, etc. are mitochondriaall examples of aerobic activities that help build your stamina.
The combination of these routines is very effective to build cardiovascular and muscular fitness. This, in turn, speeds up the muscle – fiber growth and increases our lungs’ capacity more rapidly.
Hmm… but you might have a question.
What is cardiovascular and muscular fitness?
Cardiovascular and muscular fitness are 2 major components that determine your physical fitness. Improving your cardiovascular and muscular fitness provides you with many health benefits that can prove to be beneficial for you in the long run. But what defines this type of fitness?
Let’s take a look below.
Cardiovascular fitness
Cardiovascular fitness, also known as cardiovascular endurance or aerobic fitness, is the capability of your heart and lungs to deliver oxygen to the tissues of your body. Hence, if your cardiovascular fitness is good enough, you can perform aerobic activities for longer periods of time. Aerobic activities are those activities that elevate your heart rates, such as jogging and swimming. An indicator of good cardiovascular fitness is when you are able to perform an aerobic activity for 20 minutes or so, without stopping.
Muscular fitness
Muscular fitness, or muscular endurance, stands for the ability of a muscle or group of muscles to perform constantly without fatigue. For example, if you build muscular fitness in your legs, you will be able to perform a higher number of squats, or ride a bike for a longer time without tiring yourself up too much.
Is the concept clear enough now? Let’s begin then!
Body Fitness: Core Plank Routine
Go to any trainer you like. I would change my name if they recommend not including planks in your exercise routine. And they have a damn good reason for recommending planks. This classic core body fitness exercise is simple yet very effective. Since it doesn’t involve any kind of flexing, bending, or twisting, it can also be done by people who have lower back problems. You might have seen people taking up plank challenges across the internet.
If you are someone who is just hearing the term ‘plank’ for the first time, you might be wondering what’s the big deal about it. Don’t worry, let me explain it for you.
What are the benefits of Planks?
One body fitness exercise, multiple benefits! There are several benefits that you can get if you include planks in your exercise routine. I have listed all of the benefits below.
- Improves your core strength and performance
- Decreases the risk of injuring of your back or spine
- It improves your posture
- Gives a boost to your overall metabolism
- Improves your balance
- Makes your body more flexible
- It benefits you mentally
Now, let’s take a look at some of the best plank exercises that you should be including in your routine.
Best Core Plank Exercises
Here is a body fitness routine of 4 core plank exercises that I think you should do for a better and stronger core. I have also specified how you should do these exercises and how many repetitions you should do for the same!
Here is the list of full body fitness exercises:
- Back Bridges (20 reps)
- Front Plank
- Front Plank Taps
- Side Plank Rotations (20 rotations)
I suggest that you do 3 – 5 rounds of each of these four exercises. If necessary, you should take a little rest between each exercise.
Do you want to know about these exercises in detail? Read on!
1) Back Bridges
Back bridges work on your back as well as your glutes. That’s like hitting 2 birds with one stone! (But don’t do that, it’s really, really bad for the birds. Like, really bad.) To do this exercise effectively, you should start on your back and push your hips up towards the sky 20 times.
2) Front Plank
Get into the basic front plank position. Make sure that you contract your abdominal muscles as much as possible while you hold your plank position. Place your hands on the floor, you can keep them open or keep the fists up. Pull your elbows towards your belly button, without actually moving them. This will contract your entire midsection. Hold as long as possible for maximum benefits, but don’t stress yourself out if you can’t hold it for too long at the beginning! 🙂
3) Front Plank Taps
First, you need to get into the position of the basic front plank. Then, tap your feet alternatively on the floor, for twenty repetitions. If you notice that your core is collapsing or you start to lose your muscular endurance, just start with 10 repetitions on each side. With training, you can eventually move up to a total of 20 repetitions on each side.
4) Side Plank Rotations
If you think the above exercises are too difficult for you to perform, you can try a lighter version of the plank. The side plank, as the name suggests is done on your side. You have to take your foot and place it on the other while taking the support of just one hand and one foot. Repeat this exercise on both sides for maximum benefits.
Metabolic Mobility Routine: Foam Rolling, Burpees & Jumping Jacks
You should do this Metabolic Mobility Routine every 4 – 6 weeks for the best results. You must integrate this routine with the Foam Rolling Routine. I have written another blog on the foam rolling techniques for you! Do give it a read and let me know what you think about it. 🙂
- After you use the foam roller on your calves, you should do 10 to 60 seconds of Jumping Jacks or Burpees, whichever is preferable to you.
- You should do the second exercise with the foam roller and then perform the Jumping Jacks or Burpees.
- Then do the next exercise and again perform the same stamina exercises.
- You can continue in this way until you have finished all the exercises of the foam rolling routine.
HIIT Sprint
The strength of your collagen and elastin is strictly related to the quality of your mitochondrial density. (link to the fundamental knowledge blog)
Yes, remember mitochondria? You studied it in school when you were about 12 years old! Just in case you are unable to recall the same, I’ve explained it below.
Mitochondria are the powerhouses within your cells that convert food into energy units called Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP). The ATP is a nucleotide made up from ribose, adenine, and three phosphate groups, and represents the most important energy-rich compounds in a cell.
The health of the mitochondria directly affects the way you feel, look and perform. The healthier it is, the better you can perform to the best of your capacity.
If your mitochondria are unhealthy, the possibility of you suffering from problems like chronic diseases, brain fog and lack of fitness increases.
One of the best ways to improve the density and the number of mitochondria is by doing very short sprints. These sprints should be of 30 seconds each, followed by a longer recovery time period, such as 4 minutes.
The sprint must be done as fast as possible, and the recovery must be the easiest possible for your body. This HIIT sprint exercise should be performed between 4 – 10 times.
Did that just go over your head? Let me give you an example.
You could ride your bike as fast as possible for 30 seconds, follow it up with four minutes of recovery, repeat it for a total of 4 – 10 times in a row. This body fitness routine should be performed at least once every two weeks. The more, the better 🙂
Lack of mind-body challenge
In addition to a lack of stamina, there is also a lack of teaching of how you can challenge the brain and body with particular body movements that we do not usually do. Doing new body movements creates new neural connections and improves our brain capacity to learn new skills.
For example, practicing a new sport or learning a new dancing style can challenge your brain and body with something new.
The more fun and entertaining it is, the better since you will be improving your health and beauty along with challenging your body motions 🙂
I hope this blog gives you a good body fitness routine and motivates you to strive for a leaner and fitter body. Let me know how you plan to include the above body fitness exercises in your daily routine. If you are already doing these body fitness exercises, how often do you do them?
And as always, if I missed something or if you would like to add your body fitness routine to the blog, feel free to comment below.
If you found this article interesting and want to go deeper into this topic, I would suggest you a great books from one of my favourite teachers and healer:
The Body Sculpting Bible for Abs: Men’s Edition, Deluxe Edition: The Way to Physical Perfection
New Anatomy for Strength & Fitness Training
Alessandro Cipullo
Consciousness Explorer
Wellness Seeker
