Ready to make fitness work for you? Great time to get started! Wait, how do you do that, how do you get started? Don’t worry, here are some fitness tips! This collection of advice should provide you with just the right amount of knowledge and inspiration to create your own fitness routine.

Try to use free weights rather than exercise machines. While exercise machines are great a way to stay fit, your body can actually benefit more from free weights. Free weights work stabilizer muscles that most machines don’t. Not to mention, free weights are also much less expensive and bulky. It is a better choice all around to add free weights to your home gym.

Finding your target heart rate can make your workouts more effective. The target heart rate is the heart rate at which your body is using the most oxygen, and therefore burning the most calories. Ideally your target rate is approximately 60 percent of your maximum rate. You can get a rough calculation of your maximum heart rate by subtracting your age from the number 220.

To get the most benefit out of your strength training, incorporate stretches into your routine. At least one scientific study suggests that if you pause after training your muscles and spend 20-30 seconds stretching out whatever muscle (or set of muscles) it is you’ve been working, this will increase your strength.

Mix up your intake of sugars before working out. Multiple sugars are better for a workout than sticking to one type of sugar for energy. While manufactured foods usually offer one type of sugar, natural foods such as fruits and granola can give you more than one type of sugar and increase your energy output and stamina.

Now is the perfect chance to make fitness work for you! Don’t worry; it can be personally tailored for just you. After reading these previous tips, you should have seen that techniques and products are numerous and that anyone can make a routine just for their own needs. It just takes research and experimentation.