Often we beat ourselves down when we don't get a workout in or when we didn't feel like we were efficient during our workout. No one hits the home gym, regular gym, or pavement to get so-so results. You perform exercises wanting to get 100% out of every rep or run that you do. So how do we get the biggest benefit out of every workout we do?
I decided to put together a list of 12 tips to improve will and power. You might be asking yourself why 12 tips?
Number 12 has always been a special number to me and not just because I wore it playing competitive soccer. Rather, it resembles to use your inner wisdom and inner strength to achieve your goals. Through eastern medicine, inner strength, and movement I was able to achieve my goal of becoming an Athletic Therapist. Without these areas, life would've been a lot harder.
Here are 12 tips to become more efficient in your workout...
1. Stay hydrated
Losing 2% of our bodyweight through sweating does let you know that you are dehydrated. When we do resistance training we sweat roughly 6-10%. If you don't stay hydrated this can ultimately make your workout feel harder, reduce your performance, and reduce your body's ability to recover after our session.According to a review from the University of California. Drinking 1/2 to 1 ounce of water per pound of bodyweight a day can replenish this loss. So hydrate, hydrate, hydrate!
2. Preface your workouts with carbohydrates
Remember carbohydrates are you body's main fuel source when you do any high-intensity workouts. Most people reference carb-loading when they speak about marathon runners; however, eating carbs before a high-intensity workout can help you get through those intervals! When your body is fuelled, you end up putting in a better effort and you get a better value.
3. Listen to music
An interesting study done by Indian Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology, people who listened to music especially slow music after their workout recovered faster than those who didn't. To foster recovery we need to increase our dopamine and serotonin hormone levels in our body, which is what slow music activates.
4. Swap stretching with an activation warmup
I like to use this analogy from Austin State University, "Think of a rubber band, when you stretch it around a lot and then pull it back to shoot, it's not going to go as far. The same thing happens to your muscles and tendons." Whereas, if you perform an activation/dynamic warmup just like when you stretch a rubber band and shoot it forwards, you are mimicking what you're about to perform. Thus, increasing blood flow to muscles and improving range of motion without compromising muscle and tendon elastic properties.
5. Lift weights
Many people think that if you do resistance training (lifting weights) than a) your going to bulk up, b) there is no cardiovascular training involved, and c) you won't lose weight. What if I told you that was false? Would you believe me?
What if I told you that if you JUST DO cardiovascular training with NO weight training you're actually decreasing your metabolism which makes weight loss more difficult.
What if I told you that to prevent injuries from occurring it's not all about stretching/mobility? Remember if you lengthen, you got to strengthen or vice versa if you strengthen, you go to lengthen.
6. Use free weights
Weight machines are great when you are new to a gym in order to use correct form; however, free weights such as dumbbells, kettlebells, and barbells lead to greater hormonal responses compared to exercise machines. This was a study done by the Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research. This does make sense because free-weights tap into a wider range of muscles because you have to control the movement more and you have to fire small muscle groups as well.
7. Do intervals
So what is intervals? Best way to describe it, it is periods of all out effort interspersed with short "low intensity" breaks. Example: perform as many reps as you can for 20 seconds, then follow it with 10 seconds rest, and repeat for a total of 4 minutes. Benefits of doing interval training is tapping into cardiovascular training and reducing body fat according to several researchers out there such as, one study from Human Performance Laboratory at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.
8. Switch things up
I don't know about you, but I have to switch exercises up in my workouts or I get extremely bored and unmotivated. This is very important mentally, but it also has some physical benefits as well. Performing different variations of exercises during your workout each month allows you to recruit different muscles, changes the amount of weight that you can lift, and it also keeps your body guessing so you don't accommodate.
9. Get a buddy
As we all know people challenge each other whether it's a negative way or positive way in life. However, sometimes a little competition during a workout is the needed motivation to push yourself. If you don't like competition when you workout just like myself; having a buddy work out with you can make you become a bit more consistent.
10. Indulge in a massage
Anyone could use a good massage! It's important to remember that our muscles don't get fitter during the actual workout, they do so between your workouts where our muscles recover and adapt to the exercise. McMaster University studied the effect of massage on exercise which resulted in seeing an improved in the decrease of inflammation and the increase of the number of mitochondria which helps power exercise and recovery.
11. Eat protein before bed
Time to dive into a bit of nutrition since this is an important component to help us perform at any level during the day. Protein helps to build your muscles back up after a workout and for optimal fitness results.
12. Get a good night sleep
Last, but not least get a good night sleep! It is crucial to be well rested in order for our bodies to optimize function. When we talk about workouts or activity its important to understand that the amount of sleep we get needs to be roughly 7-9 hours per night. Sleep drives hormonal shifts which promotes our body's recovery to exercise. Without adequate sleep we can have symptoms of overtraining or we can hit plateaus in our performance.
References
Crane, J. D., Ogborn, D. I., Cupido, C., Melov, S., Hubbard, A., Bourgeois, J. M., & Tarnopolsky, M. A. (2012). Massage therapy attenuates inflammatory signaling after exercise-induced muscle damage. Science translational medicine, 4(119), 119ra13. https://doi.org/10.1126/scitranslmed.3002882
Emberts, T., Porcari, J., Dobers-Tein, S., Steffen, J., & Foster, C. (2013). Exercise intensity and energy expenditure of a tabata workout. Journal of sports science & medicine, 12(3), 612–613.
Gergley J. C. (2013). Acute effect of passive static stretching on lower-body strength in moderately trained men. Journal of strength and conditioning research, 27(4), 973–977. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0b013e318260b7ce
Popkin, B. M., D'Anci, K. E., & Rosenberg, I. H. (2010). Water, hydration, and health. Nutrition reviews, 68(8), 439–458. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1753-4887.2010.00304.x
Savitha, D., Mallikarjuna, R. N., & Rao, C. (2010). Effect of different musical tempo on post-exercise recovery in young adults. Indian journal of physiology and pharmacology, 54(1), 32–36.