Recent years have seen many of us neglect our fitness goals. With the approach of warmer weather and an accelerated vaccine distribution, the collective desire to lead healthier lives is growing. One key lesson from the pandemic is recognizing our resilience and exploring new methods to enhance it.
One significant way to do this is through regular training and workout optimization. Whether you’re planning to return to the gym or aiming to boost the effectiveness of your home workouts, certain strategies are more impactful than others.
It’s all about the right balance of meals, energy management, ensuring enough sleep, and proper workout planning before you start exercising.
Fuel Properly
Engaging in physical activity with an empty stomach works for some people. However, many fitness enthusiasts, particularly those involved in vigorous cardio or intense weightlifting, find a pre-workout supplement insufficient. They need some nourishment to fuel their exercise routines and avoid burnout.
If you suspect you might perform better with some food before working out, consume easily digestible carbohydrates beforehand. Choices like fruits, oatmeal, rice cakes, and toast are excellent as they provide quick energy. Avoid foods rich in fat or fiber, as they could lead to digestive discomfort or give you an overfull feeling.
Seek Help
Remember that you’re not the first to embark on the path you’re currently traversing. Hence, it’s beneficial to connect with individuals at the place you aspire to reach or have guided others on a similar journey. This could be your friends, workmates, gym partners, or even the fitness experts at Pledge To Fitness. Their wisdom and counsel are crucial in maintaining your focus and ensuring your efforts are channeled toward achieving success.
This could be for the simple purpose of affirming your current strategies or to provide a gentle push towards a more effective and efficient approach. However, be skeptical of those who advocate for a precise method or technique. Ask yourself whether they have successfully attained or are progressing towards your desired goal.
Implement Minor Adjustments
When setting fitness objectives, we frequently throw ourselves into it completely, often to our disadvantage. How often have you mapped out your weekly exercise routine, intending to attend three classes and hit the gym twice on your own? It seems like a solid plan, but the issue is that you haven’t visited the gym at all in the previous weeks.
Such an intense regimen might keep you going for a few weeks when motivation is high, but it’s neither sustainable nor wise to dive into such a rigorous regime without easing into it. Instead, set smaller, achievable goals for yourself.
For instance, if you attend two weekly classes consistently, consider adding one weightlifting session. Remember, to enhance our fitness levels, we need to incrementally overload our bodies, which simply means doing more than we did in the last week or session. However, more overload isn’t always the best approach.
Remain Consistent
This part typically reminds us of the well-known saying that Rome wasn’t constructed in a single day. Achievements require time, as anyone committed to transforming can attest. Your progress pace may decelerate, and at times, it may seem like your endeavors are futile.
Frequently, those who seem to achieve effortlessly are the ones who have been consistently working hard for the longest time. If a hurdle derails you, dust yourself off and return to your path as quickly as possible. Resume your journey, persist, and exercise patience – your diligence will eventually bear fruit.
You may want to try participating in a new program, such as a calisthenics challenge. Zindzy Gracia has an article that talks about the 28-Day Calisthenics Workout Challenge To Improve Your Fitness, which has shown to offer great results for a lot of people, so it may be something that you want to try. Many people have experienced great results after participating in this challenge.
Listen to Music
It’s well-known that the songs you enjoy can motivate you for a workout. However, a study from the Indian Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology involving 30 individuals showed that those who listened to music, particularly slower tunes, after their workout had a quicker recovery time than those who didn’t play music.
Listening to some of your most soothing songs immediately after your workout could be beneficial. This will aid in bringing your blood pressure and heart rate back to normal and expedite your recovery process.
Endnote
By going the extra mile beyond just exercising, you can amplify the improvements you’ve noticed in your physique. Fitness extends beyond relentlessly pushing your limits with each gym visit; it encompasses addressing your body’s requirements before, throughout, and following your workout session.