Exercising is a victory in battle, but eating right is what wins the war.

Both go hand-in-hand when it comes to getting in shape. The key to successful weight loss involves proper exercise followed by healthy meals. You can exercise for hours on end, eating whatever you want, but if you’re not running marathons or rushing to the touchdown line, you will only end up wasting your hard work and time by returning to where you started.

According to Prohealth.com, if you run at a pace of 12 minutes a mile for 30 minutes, you burn approximately 250 calories. Two hundred fifty calories may not seem like much, but that is equivalent to a bottle of soda, a Snickers bar, or three medium apples. Though, a bottle of soda has the same calories as three medium apples, they are certainly not the same in nutritional value. Eating three medium apples will provide you with dietary fiber, vitamins and minerals. Whereas, a bottle of soda will provide you with just a sugar rush. When you have to choose between the two, the choice should be clear.

Learning how to eat right can be a fun and interesting journey. You become aware of what you are eating as you discover what it is made of, whether its contents are beneficial or harmful. Similarly, knowing how to exercise correctly is important because you learn how to avoid injuries  while maximizing the allotted time.

The problem is most people don’t know where to begin their path toward a healthier body. A great start would be your abdominal and back muscles because these are the foundation to a stronger body. Here’s a three-part exercise targeting that area that will only take about an hour.

The Warm-Up:

10 minutes
-Running on the treadmill
-Jumping-jacks
-Bicycling
-Jumping rope
-Hitting the punching bag

Any one of the above is a great warm-up. The warm-up is the most important aspect of any exercise because a proper warm-up reduces the risk of injury and gets the body into gear. One of my personal favorites that prepares my body best is the punching bag.

The Workout:

40 minutes

Back:
-One-arm dumbbell row 4 sets of 10 repetitions
-Face pull 4 sets of 8 repetitions
-Pull-ups 4 sets of 8 repetitions

Abdominals:
-Weighted sit-ups (10 lbs. or less, or no weight at all is fine) 4 sets of 10 repetitions
-Leg raises 4 sets of 10 repetitions

The Cool-Down:

10 minutes
-Stretches

After finishing a workout, it is important to stretch the muscles you worked out because this will increase your muscle’s flexibility, and you won’t end up looking stocky.