As well as eating properly, it is also important to incorporate exercise into your routine. Whether you are trying to gain muscle or lose fat, it is equally important for both.

Exercise will be different for everyone, what you want to do will depend on what you're trying to gain from it. As a general rule, someone who is wanting to gain muscle will probably spending more time lifting weights, whereas someone who is wanting to lose fat will include more cardio. However, this doesn't mean you should only do one or the other, neither are confined to a specific goal.

As well as burning calories, exercising has so many other benefits, improving strength and bone density, for example, as well as improving your overall mood.

There are several different types of workouts, cardio, if done regularly, will reduce your resting heart rate, and burn extra calories, therefore helping you to lose more fat. HIIT stands for high intensity interval training, it requires you to exercise to your maximum and then recover, hence the interval part. Even once finished, you have the potential to still be burning calories.

Overall, for someone wanting to lose fat, you will need to be at a calorie deficit. The extent on your deficit depends on your current weight and goals, it is important not to have too much of a deficit as it is unhealthy. There are lots of sites online which can help you work out an appropriate deficit for yourself. Someone wanting to gain muscle should be consuming sufficient calories to do so, without going overboard - it's about the balance between intake and calories burnt.

A good way to keep track of the calories you have burnt is to invest in a fitness watch, such as a Fitbit, which tracks your exercise whilst wearing it. Particularly one with a heart rate monitor as this gives a more accurate calorie burn result. However, using one without will still give you a general idea. You can find a link to some on Amazon using the widget in the sidebar.

It may take a while of trial and error, and some help, to find the best exercises and workout times for you but once you have found a routine which works for you, it's great to be reaping in the rewards.

Beth x

Photo source: https://www.sportpartner.co.uk/blog/the-beginners-guide-to-starting-an-exercise-program