CREDIT: CREATIVAIMAGES / ISTOCK / THINKSTOCK
Strength is embodied in your mind, body and spirit and means to overcome or improve something. When it comes to anything, the only way to improve something is to practice.

Strength can take on many different meanings for your mind, body and spirit, but ultimately it means improvement or overcoming something.

How do you do this? With practice.

The next time you find yourself in a weight room, challenge yourself with a few more reps of something or add a bit more weight and do the same or more reps.

Start with one or two exercises at a time. If you increase everything you could cause injury or become sore for a few days. Just pick the exercises that have seemed slightly easy for a couple of workouts. Maybe you need to increase your warm up weight, which is typically 50 to 70 per cent of the actual lifting weight. If you think you’ve reached a plateau then try a new exercise for a few weeks that works the same muscles before going back to the old one again.

On cardio machines, try elevating the resistance or incline if there is one. You can also work past speed barriers with some interval training. It is also a good idea to make sure you are using a variety of machines to keep your whole body prepared for different movements to avoid injury.

If you attend group exercise classes, try increasing your weights or making movements deeper. Ask your instructor for increased options if they don’t already offer them. Try and do exercises for the whole length of time suggested and maybe a few beats longer. In some cases you also may be able to use a weighted vest, but check with your instructor first.

Keep track of your workouts on your smart phone or carry a note pad. You don’t have to write down every set and rep but maybe just track your improvements, for example: 20 pushups today, increase of three. In order to get better at anything you need to work at it consistently.

Fitness is not a once in a while or when you have time kind of thing. It’s a part of everyday life and it’s necessary to keep healthy in all aspects of life