Don't do "traditional" number of sets, or traditional number of exercises. Think outside of box! This will keep your mind and your body from getting bored or over-stressed by any given exercise program.

PROTEIN

Here is a newsflash: You need protein at every meal, regardless of your fitness goals. It doesn't matter if you are a bodybuilder or a glass blower - your body needs protein several times per day, every single day of your life.

Don't think that just because you aren't trying to put on muscle mass that you don't need to consume protein. Your body uses amino acids in protein to repair damage that happens naturally to your body everyday, even if you don't exercise. If you are involved in an intense exercise program, then your need for protein is amplified by a large percentage.

Do you need latest protein supplement? Maybe, maybe not. It depends on your present training program and nutritional intake. Decide if you are getting at least 20% of your calories from protein everyday, and as much as 40% for some competitive athletes. If not, then you may need to take a protein supplement, or at least increase amount of lean protein in your daily diet.

CARDIOVASCULAR TRAINING

Cardiovascular training is just good for burning off calories, right? Wrong! Cardio does burn a lot of calories, but let's break down word "cardiovascular".

Cardio: Having to do with cardiac muscle - your heart. Vascular: Having to do with your circulatory system - your veins and arteries.

When put together into term "cardiovascular", can you determine primary reason for doing cardio? To improve strength and efficiency of your heart and circulatory system!

Yes, improving strength and efficiency of your heart and circulatory system burns a lot of calories. Yes, cardiovascular training is part of any good health and fitness program.

However, if you don't do it right, you won't get much out of it. There are various formulas for determining intensity of your cardiovascular workouts, and they include Target Heart Rate Zone and "Talk Test".

Whichever method you choose, you must always put forth a true moderate to intense effort, and you must also practice different activities, and different amounts of time spent doing cardio. If you always do treadmill at 3.5 mph for exactly 30 minutes, your body will quickly adapt to that, and your progress will cease.

Change activity that you engage in, change intensity, and change amount of time you spend doing it. Keep your body guessing, and it will reward you by literally "throwing your fat into fire" to fuel workout!

It doesn't matter if your goal is to be a bodybuilder or a 90-year old who can tie your own shoelaces, you need resistance training. Listing many reasons for engaging in a consistent resistance training routine is beyond scope of this article, but there are some myths about weight training that need to be brought to light.

1.Weight Training makes you big and bulky. Actually, size of your muscles is determined primarily by your gender, type and intensity of your training program, and your nutrition. If you think you will just "magically" turn into a muscle-bound athlete because you picked up a couple of dumbbells, just ask any bodybuilder how much time, energy, and raw will power goes into building his or her incredible physique. It does NOT happen by accident.

2.Using any given device or exercise will "sculpt" your abs, biceps, butt, or any other muscle. There is one thing and exactly one thing that determines shape of your muscles, and that is your DNA. It is quite impossible to "sculpt" any part of your body - that job belongs to your chosen deity. You can control size of your muscles, but you cannot control shape. Anyone who says otherwise is straight up lying.

3.Resistance training is just for men. Do you want to lose weight? Do you want to be healthy, strong, and have a great metabolism and energy level? Then weight training is for you. Period.

PROPER NUTRITION

You need to learn one word and one word only if you want to maximize your nutrition program. That word is Cumulative. Cumulative means combined effect over course of time.

You will not put on 5 lbs by eating a hamburger. You will likewise not lose 5 lbs by eating celery for dinner. You will not reap lifetime benefits of vitamin, mineral, and fiber intake by eating fruits and vegetables for 1 week. You will likewise not destroy your body's balance of vitamins and minerals by straying from your nutrition program once in awhile.

Do you see where all of this is going? If you want to reap health and weight loss benefits of a proper nutrition program, you cannot practice proper nutrition "once in awhile". You must consistently stick to your nutrition program over long term to realize cumulative effects. You are just kidding yourself if you think otherwise.

As you can see, Cardiovascular Training, Resistance Training, and Proper Nutrition all play a vital role in your health and fitness program. In addition, they work together as a team in order to keep you healthy and on track with your fitness goals. Just practicing one or two will not be good enough.

At this time you can make a choice. You can either choose to believe a bunch of bald-faced lies and misleading truths about physical fitness, or you can choose to embrace real truth of matter. The real truth is that weight loss and physical fitness require time, effort, and dedication.

Remember: Anything worth having is worth working for!