It seems that these days, everybody is trying live a more healthy lifestyle. For many, this means working out. Unfortunately, many people either have misguided ideas about how to exercise or are working out in ways that may be totally counterproductive to their goals. So, to help you better understand how your bodies respond to working out, here are some "training tips" to help you get the most of your time in and out of the gym.

* Know your goals: Your body responds differently to different types of exercise so knowing what your goals are will allow you to better choose the right type of exercise. For example, during resistance training, the amount of weight lifted, the repetitions and sets performed and the rest you give yourself between sets can all have a profound effect on how your body responds. If your goal is to be a world class bodybuilder, you should choose moderate loads that you can lift for 8-12 repetitions with short rest periods (30 seconds to 1.5 minutes) and do multiple sets. This will elicit the large, bulging muscles also known as hypertrophy, which is so indicative of bodybuilders.

* Warm up before you stretch: Most people think that stretching and warming up are synonymous. Truth be told, they are not. When someone "warms up", it means that they are doing several minutes of walking, light jogging or calisthenics to warm their muscles and prepare the body for exercise. Before warming up, your muscles are "cold" and tight and therefore, not very responsive to stretching. If you doubt this, try seeing how flexible you are after getting out of bed in the morning. As a general rule, a warm up should last anywhere from 5 to 10 minutes and consist of any light intensity aerobic activity to warm those cold muscles prior to stretching. Stretching should consist of static stretching where the stretch is taken to the point of just a mild discomfort. Bouncing during stretching is not advisable for most individuals and may result in injury. So, before your next workout, try warming up prior to stretching. Your body will thank you for it!

* Progress slowly to prevent muscle soreness: Delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS for short) is the pain felt 24-72 hours after an overly aggress exercise routine and is one of the big reasons new exercisers drop out of a more active lifestyle. While the pain associated with DOMS is one of the big mysteries of exercise science, experts are sure that starting out nice and easy is the best way to minimize the pain. According to Adam Freedman, CSCS, of ASPEN Personal Fitness Consultants of Pennsylvania and training consultant to Platoon Fitness in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania "for those who wish to do a resistance training program, start with 1 set of 12-15 repetitions of exercises which target the major muscles of the body. After that, go home, eat something healthy and get a good night sleep. You will find that the pain you feel will be minimal at most.

* Exercise your biggest muscles first, followed by your smaller muscles: According to Christopher Blessing, MS, PT, CSCS, a physical therapist in New Jersey explains "it makes good sense to work the biggest muscles first and work down to the smaller muscles because the smaller muscles are probably already involved in the big-muscle exercises". For example, the shoulder and triceps muscles are involved in all pressing movements such as the bench press and shoulder press. By fatiguing the smaller shoulder and triceps muscles first, you most likely limit how much weight you can lift with the muscles of your chest. By performing exercises that use the most muscle first - chest press, leg press, lat pull down etc. - and then following through with exercises that use the smaller muscles of the body (biceps, triceps, etc.) you ensure that your body will be at its maximum throughout your workout!

* Don't use lifting belts: For those of you who wear those thick leather weight lifting belts around your waists while you lift weights, realize that there really isn't any evidence that using those weight lifting belts is of benefit for the vast majority of people out there - and there is some evidence that using them can be detrimental! The reason for this is that, when you wear a belt around your waist your muscles actually comes to rely on it. This may result in the muscles tetting weaker! Therefore, if you are going to use these things, only do so, when you are lifting very heavy (at or near the maximum) amounts of weight and only during weight lifting exercises that involve your lower back. In other words, you don't need a weight lifting belt when you are doing a bench press or practically any type of nautilus -type machine exercise.

* Water: is still the beverage of choice. If you work out for less than an hour at a time, water is still the best choice to quench your thirst. Some may prefer the taste of sports drinks over water which can have an positive impact on the amount of fluid that is consumed during exercise, which is a plus for sports drinks. However for exercise under one hour, sports drinks give no advantage to exercise performance. Plus the added calories of some sports drinks may put a dent in your waist line as well as your wallet.

* When working out, stay clear of cars: While this might seem prudent any time, so you don't get run over while you jog or bike or walk, there is another reason: Pollution. It has been estimated that exercising near busy streets for 60 minutes exposes one to the pollution equivalent of smoking a half a pack of cigarettes! Better strategy: work out during the wee morning hours or later in the evening; either way, you'll run into less traffic- and pollution.

* To run better, lift weights: To improve your running speed and or running distance, do some weight training. Studies show that performing lower body resistance training actually improves aerobic exercise performance. Exercises that would probably help include squats, leg extensions, leg curls and leg presses. Always have someone show you how to use the equipment first to avoid injuring yourself. Use weights light- enough to lift for 12 - 15 receptions - and take less than 30 seconds rest between sets.

* Drink plenty of water: Decreasing body water via sweating by only 2 percent is enough to drop exercise performance by about 15 percent! Drink water before, during and after exercise. This is especially true for those over 60 years of age because the sensation of thirst doesn't seem to work well in some older adults.

* Limit your workouts to 1 hour or less: Studies indicate that for new exercisers, working out for longer than 60 minutes at a time is associated with greater dropout rates compared to those who exercise for less than 60 minutes.

* Find a workout partner: Studies show that when we work out with a partner, we tend to work out longer. Caution should be used when choosing workout partners so that you don't choose someone that is in much better shape than you might be. This is because studies also indicate that the less conditioned partner tends to drop out of an exercise program at higher rates when the partners differ greatly in how physically fit they are.

* Don't hold your breath when lifting weights: When we hold our breath during resistance training, we perform what is called the Valsalva maneuver, named in honor of the 18th century Italian anatomist who was the first to describe it. In a nutshell, the Valsalva maneuver states that when we hold our breath, we increase the pressure inside our chests. This pressure clamps down on the veins which return blood to the heart. When less blood gets back to the heart, it follows that less blood is pumped out of the heart and to the brain. This in turn means less blood and oxygen get to the brain. In drastic instances this may result in one passing out - not a good thing, especially if you happen to be holding a very heavy weight over your head! Holding your breath also tends to raise your blood pressure, which is not good either. So, remember to breath when you lift! Correct lifting procedure usually requires that you inhale when you lower the weight and exhale when you raise the weight.

* Get some rest: Contrary to popular belief, your body does not grow stronger during the time you are actually working out. Rather, your body grows stronger when you are resting. So, plan on giving your body at least 24 hours of rest between workouts and a little more than that if you are new to exercise or are elderly.

* One set is as good as 3 sets: For those who are new to strength training, understand that studies consistently show that performing one set of an exercise will result in almost as much strength as performing 3 sets. According to Dianna Mills, MS, ATC, an exercise physiologist and personal trainer in Frazer, Pennsylvania, "studies show that the change in strength between performing 1 set and 3 sets is only about a 3% difference". This is great news for people who have limited time to work out! After you have adjusted to the rigors of resistance training - after about3 or 4 months - feel free to increase to 2 or more sets.

* Do something fun: The commitment to exercise won't last very long if we do things that we really don't enjoy doing. So, if you don't like running, simply don't do it! You have to find that unique mix of activities that is correct for you and you alone.

Don't do anything simply because your friends says it is good for you, because in reality, even if it is good for you, you won't be doing it very long if you don't enjoy it. In other words, make your workout fun and you will do it for a lifetime. And when you come right down to it, isn't that what working out is all about - doing it for a lifetime?