Nobody goes to the gym hoping for moderate results. You want to get 100% out of every repetition, race and hard-earned drop of sweat. Fortunately for you, scientists and researchers want the same thing. Here, 13 incredibly efficient strategies, courtesy of the latest research, to get the most benefit from each of your workouts.
Join her free health and weight loss challenge and follow her for daily inspiration on Instagram and in her new app. As a personal trainer, I want my clients to finish their training with the feeling that they have achieved something, but with more energy and a better mood. On the other hand, if you feel that you could have moved on or that you haven't achieved much, it's a good indication that your training is too easy and that you can try a little harder. As a general rule, Fitzgerald suggests: Make sure that two or three of your workouts each week are strength exercises.
Conversation test If you find it difficult to pronounce a full sentence and you can only answer with a few words, your training has probably been effective. In an Austin State University study, people who warmed up with light leg extensions and squats were able to do so with 8.36% more weight during their training than if they had done typical “flexion and retention” stretches. Listen to music Everyone knows that their favorite songs can help you exercise, but in an Indian journal of physiology and pharmacology of 30 men and women, people who listened to music (especially slow music) after training recovered faster than those who didn't listen to music. Don't worry about interval training, or even about choosing the right combination of cardiovascular and strength exercises.
Drink chocolate milk A recent study from the Journal of Exercise Physiology found that cyclists who drank low-fat chocolate milk after their workouts recovered as well as those who drank commercial recovery beverages. He says that the balance of evidence now suggests that people make more gains when they dedicate their training time to an interval approach compared to resistance exercise. Eat protein before bed Protein helps your muscles recover after a workout, and for optimal fitness results, that shouldn't stop when you sleep. If you feel like you've done your best at least once, that's a good sign that your training is challenging enough.
To make sure you drink enough water during your workout to replace the fluids you're losing, weigh yourself before and after a sweat session, Carlson-Phillips says. While you can include several variations of the same exercise in a single workout (such as planks and planks with one leg raised), changing those variations every month will also keep your body guessing.
