Nobody goes to the gym hoping to get moderate results; you go seeking a 100% success rate for the effort and time you put in. That’s why we compiled some of the best tips that will help you get the most out of your workout.
Lift Weights
Don’t do cardio alone, says Jacob Wilson, strength and conditioning specialist and associate editor of the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. It reduces your metabolism, making weight loss more difficult. Resistance training like planks, leg addiction, heel step downs, etc., builds your muscle to increase your metabolism. 1996-2008 Harvard School of Public Health study of 10,500 healthy men showed that 20 minutes of weight training resulted in less abdominal fat than spending the same amount of time doing cardio.
Use Supplements
SARMs and other supplements work together to reduce water weight and help you build muscle faster. Taking them prior to your workout helps retain energy, so you can work out for a longer period. It also hastens muscle recovery to prevent injury and keep you safe while you do your routines.
Swap Stretching For A Dynamic Warmup
One Austin State University study showed that people who did light leg extensions and squats warmups could squat with 8.36% more weight during the workout than the regular “bend and hold” stretches. Dynamic workouts make your lower body to be 22.7% more stable. Dynamic workouts increase your blood flow and improve your joint mobility while retaining your muscles and tendons’ elasticity. For example, if you want to go for a run, you could do five to 10 minutes of lunges, knee raises, leg swings, and then run on the treadmill.
Eat Carbs Before Workout
As shown in a 2013 study published in Sports Medicine, eating enough carbs fuels your body for high-intensity workouts. When your body is fueled, you will be able to put enough effort into your workout and yield better results. So even before doing your morning workouts, make sure you eat some toast or oatmeal.
Do Intervals
Do short, minute-by-minute high-intensity workouts. According to a study by the Human Performance Laboratory At The University Of Wisconsin La-Crosse, people who did a 20-minutes interval workout burned up to 15 calories per minute. That’s about twice as much as is during long runs.
Work out protocol could be: do as many reps as possible in 20 seconds, then take a 10-second break, and go again for a total of four minutes. Rest for a minute before repeating for four rounds altogether.
Drink Water
According to a review from the University of North Carolina, just 2% loss of body weight in fluid can make workouts feel harder, limit your exercise performance and your body’s ability to recover after a workout. It is recommended that you drink half to one ounce of water per pound of body weight every day.
Listen To Music
Music can greatly affect your workout results. The Indian Journal Of Physiology And Pharmacology conducted a study of 15 men and 15 women to see the effect of listening to music after a workout. The result showed that people who listened to music, especially slow music recovered faster than those that did not listen to music. Music releases dopamine and serotonin, and these hormones help boost recovery. Listening to music after your workout will help your heart rate and blood pressure return to normal; hence recovery happens.
Use Free Weight
As a beginner, a weight machine will help you learn the correct form, and you move to free weights once you have checked that. You get more hormonal responses from using free weights like dumbbells, barbells, kettlebells compared to doing similar exercises on a weight machine, according to the journal of strength and conditioning research 2014 study.
Get Good Sleep At Night
You should get quality sleep at the end of every workout day and on every other night of the week. Poor sleep hinders your performance at the gym, which reduces the number of calories you burn and reduces your body’s ability to come back stronger after workouts.
Drink Chocolate Milk
The 4:1 ratio of carbs to protein contents of chocolate milk promotes recovery after a workout. Protein repairs the muscle, while carbohydrates help you regain your energy and even allows the protein to get into your muscles. Drink a glass of low-fat chocolate milk right after a high-intensity or long-duration workout.
Switch Between Exercise Variations
Doing different variations of an exercise will keep you getting bored. Even better, changing between multiple variations of an exercise allows your body to adapt to different demands. You can easily overcome a plateau by doing variants of exercises because your body faces a new challenge whenever you switch to a different variation of the same exercise.
A strategic fitness plan and workout routine will take you closer to your goals in a shorter period than aimless routines. Use these tips as you deem fit and be consistent to see great results.