How To Triple Your Workout Effectiveness
You have to exercise to stay healthy, but you have to find the right workout routine if you really want to make some positive changes to your overall physique. Strength training is the best tool to change the way you look, but even when you’re sticking with other workout routines, you can always take steps to triple your workout effectiveness and ramp up your endurance. Whether you’re a beginner or you have been working out for some time now, keeping the following tips in mind will definitely go a long way helping you get the best results in the shortest time possible.
Try High-intensity Workouts
If you have been walking or doing exercises for a long time now yet not seeing the desired results and not sure anymore what fitness program you should follow, try the high-intensity workouts. These workouts are growing in popularity as they intensify everything leading to better results in a very short time. The best way to measure the intensity of your workout is through the heart rate and the exertion rate.
However, you should do high-intensity workouts with care, avoid over-training and know how hard you should push yourself; in fact, three days a week with 20 minutes per session will work and help you see positive results. Some of the workouts with the potential to change intensity whenever you want include brisk walking, climbing stairs, hill walking, running and jumping the rope.
It is important to strictly adhere to the interval of these workouts. Don’t over-do and do take short breaks, and remember that it is good to combine different exercises in a single workout session. Understand that with these exercises less time and more effort are the key factors. By doing it right, you will increase stamina and enhance your performance along with burning more calories in the shortest time possible. If you’re trying to lose weight and want to improve the effectiveness of your workout, know that there is nothing better than a high-intensity training.
Opt for Multi-Joint Exercises
Multi-joint exercises are great for mass and strength building. Simple exercises like basic bench presses for chest, squats, overhead presses for shoulders, deadlifts and exercising on rowing machines should give you a good start. These body movements will ensure your body is on the move as a whole and muscles are getting the maximum engagement. Multi-joint movements give a better anabolic stimulus. However, start with lower-reps and gradually increase.
Take Protein
If you are keen on high-intensity workouts, an important thing to remember is getting the right amount of protein to rebuild the muscles. Protein is a must in both cardio and strength workouts. Protein shakes and carb shakes are a good way to quickly boost metabolism.
Having a shake before and after a workout will also give you the needed energy and strength through the workout and provide the essential nutrients after the workout for the body to recover. Never eat junk food just because you are craving them. This will totally reverse the effect of your workout. Instead, form a habit of consuming protein powders and taking your protein shaker with you before and after a workout for reasons mentioned above.
Enjoy Carbs
Dieting is important for weight loss, but starving will only make you lose your energy to do the workout and hence you will feel tired and sleepy throughout the day. You should eat healthy carbohydrates to keep yourself energized and active throughout the day. Since you are planning to do high-intensity workout, you need extra energy to spend at least a couple of hours in the gym. A diet with a good balance of carbs, fat, and protein should help you through your exercise regime.
To be more specific, exercising makes the body burn glycogen that is stored in the liver and muscles. The body converts glucose into glycogen and carbs are needed to facilitate the whole process.
Hydrate Properly
Our body is about 70 percent of water. This means the body functions properly because of the proper proportion of water, but you need to know that the blood also has about 90 percent of water. While exercising, you sweat a lot and that leads to dehydration, which is why drinking more water at regular intervals will help a lot. If the body is not well-hydrated you can feel dizzy and get tired very frequently.
Remember that soda is not a replacement for water. It is important to have pure water whether you are working out or not. If you are doing a workout, sipping little water helps your body rejuvenate and gives you the freshness and strength through the exercises, so make sure you always have a water bottle with you.
Know your strength.
Start with lower weights, so that you can initially judge your strength. Once you are good to go with those, move on to the heavier weights and eventually to the heaviest weights possible. Heaviest weights with good form can give you the best and most effective results within a very short period of time. Besides, they are pieces of gym equipment that torches fat.
As long as you are able to keep the form with the heaviest weight, continue the set. Instead of going for 2-3 sets, do a single one till you are able to keep the good form. Don’t try to do hurriedly or inefficiently just to reach the number of sets.
Challenge Yourself with Chains or Band
There are many ways to get out of your comfort zone and do the extra bit to make your workout challenging and exciting, and chains or bands fit the bill perfectly. While squatting or doing bench presses and deadlift, use bands or chains. When you are down, the chain or band will be loose but as you lift yourself up the chain links will come off the floor and you will have to push harder to go higher. The weight will increase as you move higher. The heavier the weight, the more difficult it will get. This will ensure more muscles are tightened and you apply more power to get more strength than doing the standard adjustable dumbbell and barbell movement.
Use Dropsetting
Dropsetting or stripping is a training technique that is advanced and at the same time easy for anyone to learn. It is also very effective as it adds difficulty in your workout. If you are going at 10 reps of bench press with 200 pounds, an 11th rep at the same weight could be difficult, but a few more reps with a lesser weight say 160-180 pounds should not be a bad try for you.
This is dropsetting. Once you complete the last feasible rep with the 200 pounds weight, you can quickly reduce the same by 20-30 pounds and continue the reps for as many as possible in good form. Remember to shorten the rest period and understand that if you rest for a longer time between reps, there will be energy lapse. A training partner can help you strip the plates for faster reps.
Opt for Free Weights
Machine training has its own benefits like it is easy to handle everything as they generally have a set path for you to follow and once you are in position, you can simply do the reps as many times as possible to complete the regime.
Free weights, on the other hand, are somewhat experimental in nature as they involve stabilizing and balancing weights and require more strength and endurance. Because of this, you can lose more calories. When you feel that machine training has become predictable and want to try something more challenging, try free weights, whether it is for bench pressing, squatting or performing rows – you can make your workout more challenging and something to look forward to. This will help you become a better version of yourself and also increase circulation of ‘testosterone’, a muscle building hormone.
Maintain a Good Form
Good form is important for many types of exercise, like swimming and other strength training exercises. Work on your form by starting with lighter weights. If you are a novice, ask for help from an expert trainer. Once you get the knack of it, try the heavier weights. Don’t attempt heavier weights till you are in good form. Swimming needs a certified coach to teach form.
In the case of strength training, you need to be very careful when lifting weights. Lifting incorrectly will make your workout ineffective and even make you deal with serious injuries. Always ensure that you keep your upper back tight and flat when training with weights, but at the same time, pay attention to maintain the natural arch in the lower back. Not tightening up your abs properly and letting your stomach hang out during a set is only going to reduce the workout effectiveness.
Include Hills in Your Routine
If your cardio workout involves walking or cycling, you should make subtle changes to improve its effectiveness and one simple way to get better results is to incorporate hills. Just by making this change, you will add more intensity to your training, which is going to make your stronger even when you spend less time in training. You can exercise, run or walk. If you decide to go running, make sure you have a good pair of running shoes that will protect your feet. Keep in mind that it is better to switch to hills after you have spent a couple of months training on the flat ground, and never go full speed when you’re just starting out or it can be a bit too taxing for your body.
Keep It Interesting
You need to keep yourself motivated to improve your gains and one way to do it is to mix up your workout routine. It is natural to get bored when sticking to the same workout routine for long, and it is not going to help either because your body gets used to it and stops growing. By changing your routine, you can shock your body and get better results, but also keep in mind that changing too often is going to be counterproductive. Ideally, you should change your routine after a few weeks, especially if you’re doing strength training.
Work with Pros
While you can certainly find plenty of information online to get started, it always makes sense to work with a professional to create the right workout. The best thing about working with a pro is that you will be in a better position to know what works and what does not. It will save you from getting confused by so many myths prevailing in the fitness industry. Understand that instead of following a so-called “strength coach” you find in a forum, you should be working with a real expert with knowledge, experience, and credentials, as they know how to create a workout and have you train in a specific way to yield positive results.
Be Consistent
Of course, it important to select the right exercises and workout routine, but it is even more important to be as consistent as possible. If you’re not patient and consistent, you will never be able to gain functional strength or improve your overall physique. Understand that results will show but they are surely going to take time, consistency, and loads of hard work. You’re not going to find success if you’re always impatient and on the lookout for a shortcut to building your body, like many short-term “fixes” work but often leave you with other complications.
Conclusion
The bottom line is that though you can find so many workout plans to improve your strength and physique, you can make subtle changes to increase your workout effectiveness manifold. Be sure to include compound exercises in your routine, eat enough protein, stick to a balanced diet, maintain consistency, and work with an expert to ensure you train smartly and effectively. More importantly, enjoy doing while you are at it. Enjoy the workout, relax, take your own time to tune yourself. Choose what you like whether it is running, walking, biking, swimming and so on. Once you start getting good results, you will feel more positive and motivated.
