by Michelle Wilkinson

Created on: August 19, 2009   Last Updated: August 24, 2010

Unless you're a professional sportsperson or happen to make a lot of money from your body, most people find that maintaining their fitness isn't always at the top of their list of priorities. When you leave home to go to college, or you leave college to start a new job, or get married and have children, other things get in the way. Sometimes it is not major, life-changing events that cause you to neglect your fitness, as even Christmas and New Year can prove a distraction. However, no matter how much your fitness has deteriorated it is still possible to get back on track, lose a bit of weight and tone up, as long as you are prepared to set aside the time to do so.

It helps to have a goal in mind. You might only want to lose a couple of pounds, but having something to focus on can make it easier for you to stick to an exercise routine, as getting fitter requires a certain amount of consistency. Consequently, you should be aiming to workout at least four or five times a week, depending on how much time you spend exercising during each session. However, you shouldn't overextend yourself, as if you try to make yourself do too much too soon you might become discouraged at your lack of progress, particularly if you hurt yourself and find that you have to skip a few workout sessions until you have recovered.

Although improving your fitness requires consistency, you shouldn't let your exercise routine become too routine, as if you start to find it boring you are more likely to give up. You might therefore want to consider trying to vary your workouts so that you alternate between a range of activities you enjoy. This can keep your interest levels up, and also enable you to work on strengthening different muscles, increasing your endurance and reducing the risk of injury. If you are one of those people who find exercise boring whatever activity you do, you should look for something to distract your attention from the effort you're putting in. Listening to music is something which can help keep your mind off the pain while also providing you with a rhythm to work out to.

Getting back into shape really depends on your determination to succeed in achieving your goals so that you are actually prepared to put the time and effort into your fitness, rather than taking a stop-start approach to working out. Otherwise, you simply won't notice that your workouts are getting easier as a result of your fitness improving. To get back into shape you need to build up your fitness gradually and over time, rather than expecting to be super-fit straightaway and giving up when you aren't able to reach your goal as quickly as you'd expected to.

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