The main goals of exercise are fitness, health and weight loss, and the way to maximize the effects of your exercise program is consistency. There are many forms of exercise, some better than others, but the best results will come from a combination of different workouts done on a consistent basis throughout your week. Different activities can be combined to give both variety and results. When combining activities, try to alternate working different muscle groups; this will avoid strain and injury.

Before you start any workout, it is important to warm up your body. The warm-up consists of light movements, like swinging arms and legs, body twists and bends, followed by stretches to increase the blood flow to your muscles and prepare them for the workout ahead. Omitting your warm-up leaves you more prone to injury and after-exercise stiffness.

Most workouts start with some cardio exercise. Cardio workouts consist of active, calorie-burning exercise aimed at increasing your heart rate and breathing to strengthen your heart and lungs. The most basic cardio exercise in a gym is using a treadmill, which can be used for single-intensity training as well as interval training.

Interval training allows you to burn more calories in the same amount of time, by putting bursts of more intense activity into the cardio work. These “intervals” are short and sharp, and then you return to the normal pace. On a treadmill you might do the following workout: slow walk for 5 minutes to warm up; increase speed to your normal treadmill speed for 8 minutes; increase the speed to just under your maximum for 3 minutes; return to normal speed for another 8 minutes; another fast interval of 3 minutes. Continue alternating your speed until a total of 25 minutes on the treadmill have passed and then cool down with a 5 minutes slow walk.

Strength training builds muscle and is usually performed after the cardio session. Most gyms have a circuit training course set up for strength or resistance training. The aim of the circuit is to work all large muscle groups in turn by alternating weight machines with stepping or squats. It is an intense workout for developing muscle. As muscles burn more calories that fat, this is a good exercise for weight loss as well as fitness. Most circuits last for 30 minutes, and a light or buzzer indicates when it is time to move on to the next machine on the circuit.

The last stage of the best workout is the cool down process. If you suddenly stop after a vigorous exercise, you risk cramping and sore muscles for a few days. By stretching after your workout, you allow your heart rate to gradually return to normal and you relax and stretch the muscles you have been working so hard. This process actually increases the benefit of the whole workout. Continue with your stretches and walk around a little until your heart rate is normal and your body has cooled down a bit.

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