Tips

Here are a few handy exercise tips to help you embark on your exercise plan, if you're just starting out.

If you're already a regular exerciser, you might not think you need any fitness tips, but it's always handy to recap the basics, to make sure you're still on the right track.

Buying guide If you are looking to get fitness equipment online or off, make sure to check our buying guides first.	Sports injuries When you're working out, be careful with your body. If you do injure yourself, find out more online about what you can do.
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Other tips:

Make exercise a habit

Over half of all people who join a gym have quit after 6 months, and out of those who carry on visiting the gym, 40% do so only once a week. But to benefit from exercise you need to workout at least 3 times a week. Make exercising a part of your daily routine - for example either directly before or after work.

Find the right zone

To lose weight, you need to burn off more calories than you consume daily, by burning calories you store as body fat. There are several ways you can do this:

• Continuous aerobic exercise
• Interval training
• Circuit training
• Sports and athletics

Whatever activity you choose, you should make sure your heart rate is raised to 70% of your maximum heart rate.

You can work out what your heart rate should be during exercise with this simple calculation:

220 - your age = maximum heart rate. Multiply your maximum heart rate by 70% to work out your ideal heart rate during exercise.

The higher the percentage of your maximum heart rate that you exercise at, the more calories you will burn, so include some harder work in your exercise plan where you push your heart rate upto 80-85% of your maximum. However, it's better to work out for 20 minutes at medium intensity than it is to last only 10 minutes at high intensity, so don't burn yourself out.