You've been pounding away in the gym for months now. Your girlfriend can't get over your pecs, and you never even imagined you could sport something close to washboard abs. You made progress, you stayed committed to working out and now, surprise, you're completely burnt out with the exercises you're doing day in and day out.
This isn't entirely uncommon, says Jana Angelakis, owner of PEX Personalized Exercise in New York City. "It's critical to vary your workouts, but it's even more important to understand what you're doing first," she says. "Everything in the gym is a progression, and a trainer or even an attendant at the gym can help you choreograph your workouts so you don't get bored." Here are eight tips that will help you work out better, longer and more effectively, whether you're lifting weights, hitting the park for a daily bike/blade outing or training for a long-distance run.
• Emphasize form first. Men have a strong tendency to want to move too fast, says Michael Bourque, senior exercise physiologist at the Winter Park Health Foundation, in Winter Park, Florida. "Men usually think of getting the number of repetitions in, and they want to burst through their routine." To keep your joints stable and avoid developing bad habits, Bourque recommends emphasizing form first. "If I have a client who tends to move too fast, I'll cut his weight in half and tell him that when he corrects his weight and goes slower, I'll add the weight back."
• Opt for quality. What you put into your gym time is going to be reflected in what you get out of it, physique-wise, advises John Ridis, a personal trainer and owner of Fitness by Design, in New York City. "Lots of people hang out at the gym for hours and do very little actual exercising," he says. "If you're at the gym for three hours, you should have done an hour and a half of cardio, 30 minutes of abs and stretching and an hour of working out with weights."
• Build endurance. A lot of people run and hit a wall somewhere into the single digit miles, especially if they're just getting back into it for the first time in months, says Bourque. "When you're running, the whole idea is to get your heart rate up for a certain amount of time, and keep it up. There's nothing wrong with walking for a minute or two if you get tired before you start running again." Bourque recommends running for four to five minutes and resting for one. "The idea is to keep moving," he adds. "Even if you break your run and start walking, you'll still have your cardiovascular system engaged. It's better for you to rest, too, because that will allow your hips and knees to acclimate, especially if you're going for distance." The same thing goes in the gym. If you're comfortable doing an hour and five minutes at level six on the Stair-Master, try climbing for an hour on level seven, adds Ridis.
• Skip the competition. Trying to compete with that guy next to you who just so happens to have monster arms isn't the best idea, says Ridis. "Men have egos and like to lift more weight than the guy next to them," he says. "For example, if you bench press 135 pounds for six to eight reps and you saw the next guy benching 275 for the same reps, you're not going to come close. You have to work up to that. Plus, if you hurt yourself, you won't be able to train, and it will take you longer to get back to where you were. That means you ultimately lose even more gym time."
• Don't be a copy cat. Men have a tendency to watch what others are doing, says Mark Patrick, a personal trainer in New York City, especially when the person you're eyeing is especially buff. "Another guy might be doing a dumbbell curl a certain way that might be different from the way you're used to doing it," he says. "But that person might be doing it wrong, and you don't want to pick up other people's bad habits."
• Think about progress. Your body is a machine and, as such, you have to think about your weightlifting routine as an attempt to keep that machine in peak form. But you can't jar your muscles into lifting mode. "You shouldn't do biceps, triceps and shoulders first," says Angelakis. "It's important to do the major muscle groups first. Start with your upper body, then switch to leg exercises and then switch back to your chest. It's important to do that progression because if your biceps are fatigued before you work those major muscle groups, you're going to injure yourself."
• Vary your routine. There's no question that adding some diversity to your exercise routine will ultimately keep you interested in working out. "You're going to hit the same muscles bicycling every day," says Bourque. "The more diversity in your regimen, the more you'll work all your muscles. If you just run or swim and then decide to join in on a pick-up game of basketball, you'll be moving laterally which works an entirely different muscle group. You're just asking for injuries."
• Work the right muscles. If you don't have a trainer and want to work your biceps, make sure you're feeling the exercise in your biceps, not in your shoulder or triceps, says Ridis. "Too often I see people using their back, shoulders and knees because the weight is too heavy," he says. "Focus on that muscle and spend the first two sets working strictly on it. Then, if you're looking to get bigger, you're knowingly doing a cheat set at the end of your routine, but that should always be saved for last."



Here are 10 tips that I live by and have so far kept me healthy, active, and fit. (in no particular order)
Hydrate yourself!

1. Drink at least 8 cups of water minimum a day and try to work your way up to a gallon. Up to 60% of our bodies (depending on size) are made of water. The brain is almost 70%, lungs are 90%, and our blood, almost 83%. Drinking water has many benefits as well. Water helps regulate our body temperature, transport waste in our bodies, and assists food digestion. Water also helps our body absorb different minerals, nutrients, supplements, by dissolving them.[1]
Stretch daily

2. Stretch and do it daily. Keeping your body flexible and loose can help you avoid becoming injured and unable to perform workouts, basic exercises, and even moving around. According to a 2007 article posted on MSNBC, the author brings up a study in which 38 people were split into 2 groups. The controlled part was simple. 1 group was going to stretch 10 minutes prior to exercising and the other wasn't. At the end of 10 weeks, the results were incredible. The stretch group gained an average of 18% more flexibility. Also, their one-repetition strength was increased an average of 32% for one exercise.
Other gains were noticed in other categories as well. Wondering about the non-stretch group? Well, they noticed nothing in comparison to the stretch group. One mistake though is stretching a cold muscle. The author in the article makes a good analogy. "Think of your muscles as taffy, says DiNubile. Hard taffy will break, but warm taffy will stretch and stretch. Gauge your stretches accordingly. They shouldn't hurt. If a stretch feels like it's being forced too far, it likely is."[2]
Workout and exercise

3. Workout and exercise. Working out (resistance training) keeps your muscles and bones strong. It also can help control your weight. So for those struggling to keep off the pounds, add an exercise program and it'll help you keep off the pounds a bit more easier. Working out and exercising also can keep you in a better mood! According to WebMD.com, "Endorphins are hormones in the brain associated with a happy, positive feeling. A low level of endorphins is associated with depression. During exercise, plasma levels of this substance increase. This may help to ease symptoms of depression. "[3] Who wants to be more depressed? I'll take working out and being happy instead.
Proper nutrition

4. Eat right and in moderation. Eating plays a huge role in staying healthy, active, and fit. Eating horribly can do a lot of damage to the body. Take the movie Super Size Me for example. The guy in the movie tries to eat at McDonalds every day for every meal for 30 days. After 2 weeks, visits with his doctor show that his blood pressure, cholesterol, and body fat are at an all time high. He ends up not being able to finish the McDonalds diet for a month and calls it quits because it's becoming too unhealthy and dangerous.
In the movie, the guy, who started out a healthy, active, and fit guy, is now feeling slow, lazy, and fat after eating all that junk. Now, this is an extreme example and there's hardly anyone who eats McDonalds everyday but you can see to an extreme degree what junk food will do to a normally healthy, active, and fit person. People do eat foods high in saturated fat and sodium, myself being one of them, but do it in moderation.
Listen to your body

5. Listen to your body and SLEEP. Your body needs the rest. Sleep is very beneficial to help keeping you healthy, active, and fit. In a Harvard Medical school study, scientists noticed that "sleep plays a critical role in immune function, metabolism, memory, learning, and other vital functions."[4] Let's see one role right now. Immune function plays a huge part in keeping us healthy. Which in part allows us to stay active which then assists in staying fit and for the most part, comes down to sleep. Sleeping allows your body to recuperate and start new and strong the next day.


Get regular checkups

6. Check up with your doctor regularly. By doing so you can keep track of your cholesterol levels, changes in your body, blood works, and more! A doctor's job is to diagnose you and see what is wrong with you (if anything). These days, there is no excuse to not go see a doctor regularly because almost everyone has insurance now. By going to a doctor regularly, he/she may be able to see something your not seeing or notice something you don't notice yet.
Get your current shots

7. Like seeing your doctor regularly, you should also get your shots! Yes, no one likes the pain associated with shots. But I would take the one time pain of a shot than several days of sickness or even death. The last time I got the flu was several years ago when I refused to take a flu shot for the year. I had to stay in bed and wasn't able to go to the gym, eat well, and sleep well. That really screwed me up. Coincidence that I haven't got the flu since? Maybe. But I'd like to think that getting the shot ever since has helped me in staying flu-free.
Your lifestyle is important

8. Live a lifestyle that can help you. There are, of course, individual exceptions to these but I believe in this. Don't smoke and don't drink. I've tried the latter and while I didn't hate it, I didn't like it either. I don't understand why anyone would want to do drink and smoke. It doesn't help you in anyway. Yes, there are studies that certain ingredients in red wine(resveratrol) are good for you and it helps the heart but you can get it from other sources without the alcohol.
Why do I say live a lifestyle that can help you? It's because if your in that party scene and go out every night, clubbing, etc., the temptation is there to smoke and drink. Most of my friends have now started to drink and smoke because they started to do the clubs, etc. There are other reasons they drink and smoke now but try and live a lifestyle that will help and not bring you down.
Be happy

9. Be happy. I've noticed that when I'm not happy, I'm not wanting to do much, especially go to the gym. I'm not too much of a religious person now but I remember a quote in the Bible found in Proverbs 17:22. It says "A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones."[5] In my own experience, I've found that to be true. There have been countless times where I've seen someone sad and down but used happiness and laughter to get that person back up. Your mood sets the tone for what your going to do a lot of the times. For myself, happiness is healthy.
Don't give up

10. Don't stop. When talking about long term health, I think of my grandmother's sister. My grandma started doing everything for her sister a few years ago. It wasn't because her sister wasn't able to do those things, it's just that she wanted her to take it easy and relax. So she would cook, clean, drive, etc. for her sister not allowing her to do them. My grandma's sister is now in the mid stages of Alzheimers disease.
She constantly forgets who people are (people like me who've known her for 20+ years), forgets recent events, and forgets where she is just to give you an idea. My grandma feels like it's her fault her sister is now in this stage because she didn't allow her to do things. She says she should have let her keep moving and doing things for herself instead of stopping her. I believe that also. Don't stop being active. Don't stop moving around. The brain has to stay active.

There are plenty of other ways for maintaining long term success. These are just 10 simple ones that I follow, among others, to staying healthy, active, and fit.