Get your Sweat on! Our Tips to Improving Fitness

So you want to improve your overall fitness - but what does it actually mean and how do you start? In this blog, we are going to discuss all things fitness and how to improve it with a few easy tips that you can immediately start incorporating into your life. 

What is Cardiovascular Fitness?

Cardiovascular fitness essentially is the body’s ability to supply oxygen and nutrients to the working muscles during physical exercise. It is the responsibility of the heart, lungs and circulatory system to ensure that your body can sustain itself whilst exerting energy. 

Some of the benefits of having an improved fitness level include:

• Improved Heart Health 
• Enhanced Lung Function
• Better Weight Management
• Increased Stamina
• Reduced Stress and Anxiety
• Lower Risk of Chronic Diseases
• Improved Immune Function

How do I improve my Cardiovascular Fitness?

Tip 1 - Incorporate Exercise into your Daily Routine

Incorporating exercise into your daily routine improves fitness because it challenges your body to adapt and grow stronger. When you regularly engage in physical activity, your muscles, heart and lunges are pushed to work harder. Over time, this consistent effort helps your body increase strength, build endurance and improve overall performance. Training also teaches your body to recover faster and handle more intense workouts, leading to better fitness levels. 

Try this No-Equipment Full Body Burner

These highly effective body-weight movements are guaranteed to target your full body in less than 30 minutes. All you need is a mat and sturdy elevated surface like a couch, coffee table or chair and you are ready to go!

Complete each exercise for 30 seconds, take 10 seconds rest and transition between exercises. We will repeat this circuit for 3 rounds for A1-4 first, with 90 seconds rest between each round then move on to exercises B1-4.

Repeat 3x Rounds
A1 - Lunge to Squat Complex

A2 - Frog Jumps

B4 - Bicycles

Tip 2 - Proper Nutrition

Proper nutrition is the cornerstone of any successful fitness journey, providing the essential fuel your body needs to perform at its best and recover optimally. Whether you’re building strength, increasing endurance, or losing weight, the right balance of nutrients supports muscle repair, energy production, and overall health. Proteins aid in muscle recovery, while carbohydrates replenish energy stores and fats support hormonal balance. Without adequate nutrition, your workouts may fall short of their potential, leaving you feeling fatigued, under-recovered, and prone to injury.

In addition to fueling performance, proper nutrition helps you maintain a healthy body composition and supports metabolic processes. Eating nutrient-dense foods ensures your body receives the essential vitamins and minerals (micronutrients) needed to regulate key functions like immune health and sleep quality, both of which are crucial for optimal physical performance and recovery. By keeping your calorie intake aligned with your goals—whether they focus on muscle growth, weight loss, or overall fitness—you can consistently make progress in your fitness journey and training outcomes.

Tip 3 - Rest & Recover

Rest & Recovery improves fitness because it gives your body time to heal and rebuild after a workout. When we workout, our muscles experience small tears and our energy stores get depleted. During rest, your body repairs those muscles making them stronger and restores energy levels. Rest also helps prevent injury, reduces fatigues and allows your mind to recharge, so you’re ready to attack your next workout. Without proper rest, you can’t fully  recover which can lead to overtraining, decreased performance and potential injury. Train hard, recover harder. 

Tip 4 - Consistency

As always, consistency is key - ensure that you don’t just apply these tips for 3 days then completely throw them out the window. The best way to improve fitness is time, and as long as you are ticking away at your workouts, nutrition and recovery each day you will be bound to see results. This also doesn’t mean that you need to be going all out in your workouts everytime or eating 100% “clean” foods every meal, restricting yourself from what you enjoy. You must apply balance so that this lifestyle becomes maintainable and you are able to see long-term results. At Move With Us we love to preach the 80/20 rule which implies that 80% of the time we are eating nutritious whole foods, going to the gym, getting our steps in, 8 hours sleep and 20% of the time we are enjoying soul foods, relaxing and sipping on a wine with friends.

How do I know if my Cardiovascular Fitness is Improving?

You’ll notice that your cardiovascular fitness is improving when you see some of these changes:

• You can train for longer periods or at a higher intensity without feeling as tired or out of breath. 
• Your heart rate returns to normal more quickly after a workout and you feel less fatigued post workout. 
• Activities like swimming, biking or running become easier and you might notice improvements in your speed, distance and overall stamina. 
• Overtime, you will find that your resting heart rate is lower than usual which is a sign of a stronger, more efficient heart. 
• You might experience more energy throughout the day, better quality of sleep and an overall sense of well being. 

Is Sweating More or Less a Sign that My Fitness is Improving?

In short answer no, sweating does not have any correlation with level of fitness - it is just your body’s natural way of cooling itself down. We start sweating through our glands whenever the body’s core temperature rises. When the sweat droplets are evaporated into the air it creates a cooling effect for our skin and body. Sweating is our body’s regulation system to stop us from overheating. 

Every single person sweats differently, and there are a number of variables that determine your body's sweat response. It's why you and your friend could be completing the exact same workout in identical conditions in the same gym, but might be sweating at a completely different rate.

It's not an indication that one has worked harder or burned more calories, it ultimately comes down to your genes and a number of factors such as:

• Your body composition - the greater the body mass is, the more effort is needed to reduce the temperature, which results in more sweating. Muscle mass also increases heat production, which means a higher sweat rate.
• Your age - we tend to become less efficient with regulating our temperature as we get older, so you're likely to sweat less as you age.
• Hormonal fluctuations - throughout your menstrual cycle, subtle changes in your core body temperature may affect how much you sweat. This is just one example of how hormonal changes can affect your sweat production.
• Your fitness level - the fitter you become, it's likely you'll start sweating sooner during exercise as your body has become more efficient in cooling down and regulating its temperature.  

Other external factors will also affect how much you sweat in a situation, such as the temperature and humidity, and your hydration levels. If you're dehydrated your body will do what it can to prevent water loss and limit sweating. Whether you're sweating a lot or not, make sure you stay hydrated and drink plenty of water before and after your workouts.

Want to start improving your fitness today?

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