Healthy Habits to Help Improve Your Workout Routine

 

Taking the time to get regular exercise can significantly improve your health. However, you may not be getting the most from your routine. You probably don’t go to the gym, or workout from home expecting that all your hard work is only going to result in 50% effectiveness. Making a few adjustments can help you ensure that all your sweat and hard work are netting you the best results.

Distract Yourself

While you are lifting, running, or doing calisthenics you may find it helpful to let out the occasional grunt, mantra, or even expletive. This practice can help you to distract yourself from the physical hardship or pain of your workout and keep your body pushing past your mental limits. Mantras are especially useful when you are hitting the wall mentally, as they can help keep you focused on your strength. This practice can allow you to surpass physical obstacles like sore muscles which may have signaled the end of your workout previously.

Use the Tools

Whether at the gym or at home, you can use tools to assist with your workout and add a level of intensity that you might not get from just using your body weight. During lower body exercises, you may find it helpful to use resistance bands for your legs. The resistance provided by these can provide your muscles with varying degrees of difficulty to ensure that you are forcing your muscles to adapt. This adaptation assists with improved muscle growth and strengthening which is vital to your body’s ability to withstand and overcome the challenges that you present it with on any given day.

Competition

You may find that having a challenge or some competition can help improve your attendance as well as performance when working out. Joining a competitive group such as a cycling class and becoming a part of the most active members will allow you to subject yourself to higher goals as part of your participation. It can also assist you with heightening your expectations for your own level of performance over time. You may find that a setting which includes a level of competition more effectively raises your level of activity and thus provides you with both short and long-term improvements.

Intensity Matters

You can reduce the overall time that you need to spend at the gym by increasing the intensity of your routine. Vigorous conditioning is likely going to yield better results than leisurely walking on the treadmill. Once you have done your warm-up, you should get in the habit of implementing interval exercises into your normal workout. This can help you build up your muscular, tendon, and ligament strength while helping to improve your cardiovascular performance and oxygen uptake.

Stretch and Roll it Out

You can help improve your flexibility and range of motion post workout by getting a good stretch. You may choose to use a tool like a foam roller for areas like your back which can benefit from pressure while stretching. However, you choose to do it, ensuring that you do this after a workout can relieve tension, stiffness, and help improve blood flow which delivers vital nutrients to your muscles. You may also find that once you start getting a good stretch in, your recovery time decreases.

Watch What You Eat

A good diet is essential to providing your body with the nutrients that it needs in order to function properly. It is also going to help you see a significant increase in your gains. You should be eating well throughout the day, but even more so directly before and after your exercise. During this time your body is going to need to be efficient as possible with its energy. One way to ensure that level of efficiency is to make sure that you are feeding your body with the appropriate foods and liquids. A staple of your diet should include healthy proteins to provide your body with the energy it requires for extended periods of activity as well as healing. You should also make sure that you are always getting the required amounts of water to ensure that you are staying properly hydrated. Doing this should ensure that your body can properly regulate its temperature among other vital functions.

By: Joe Fleming