Want To Enhance Your Workout Regime? Here’s How

blankWhen you walk into the gym, you want to work out knowing that every rep and every set counts. You want the assurance that you’re getting the most of your work out and that you’re one step closer to achieve your goals.

However, many people go to the gym and work out the wrong way, then wonder why they never get their desired results. That said, in addition to your exercise guide, here are eight tips to enhance your workout regime:

Do Cardio The Right Way

Some of us do cardio exercises intending to burn off fat and lose weight. However, what most don’t understand is that doing only cardio exercises will actually work against your weight-loss goals. This is because cardio brings down your metabolism, making it harder to lose weight.

You’ll have more success by combining cardio with weight lifting. This is because resistance training helps build muscle and boost your metabolism, helping you burn off calories long after you’ve left the gym. Also, the best way to approach your cardio exercise is to do interval training. This will involve doing as many reps as possible for two minutes, then resting for one minute.

Repeating this four times can be highly effective since it’ll trigger your body to burn fat for the next 24 hours or more after leaving the gym. Soon, you’ll begin to notice your weight starting to drop.

Listening to Music

In addition to boosting your motivation and increasing your performance so you can work out more effectively, music can also help your body recover faster. Listening to relaxing music right after leaving the gym causes your body to release serotonin and dopamine. These feel-good hormones help your body heal quicker, allowing you to get ready for your next workout.

So, make sure to listen to some of your best relaxing music while resting and recovering.

Warm Up Based On Your Planned Workout

It’s commonly understood that we need to warm up before we indulge in strenuous exercises. However, not many know how to warm up the right way. For instance, if you’re doing regular stretches, you’ll improve your tendon and muscle’s elasticity. However, when you get to lift the weights, stretching will not be as effective. This is because you’ve compromised the tension in your muscles.

A better way to warm up when lifting weights is to perform the exercises you were planning to do with a much lighter weight. Doing so will pump blood in the muscles and tendon, helping you lift heavier weights and have a more enhanced and effective workout.

Consume More Carbs

Many of us believe that muscle building is all about consuming proteins. However, it’s important to note that carbohydrates are the body’s major source of energy. By eating carbs right before your workout, you allow your body to produce enough energy to push heavyweights. Furthermore, more energy allows you to lift heavier weights, allowing more muscle growth.

So, the next time you’re planning to head to the gym, make sure your pre-workout meals contain plenty of carbs in it.

Exercise Variations

To see more rapid gains, it’s recommended to switch up your exercise variations.   On chest day, you could do both flat bench press, incline bench press, and decline bench press.

By performing variations of your exercises, your body uses different muscle groups, allowing the muscle to grow faster. Repeating the same exercises could cause you to hit a plateau where you’ll unable to see any changes.

Exercise with Free Weights

Even though you’ll probably use machines, it’s also best to incorporate free weights, such as dumbbells, barbells, as well as kettlebells.

Granted, one of the main benefits of using weight machines is that they help develop a good posture and correct form. However, for more rapid changes, free weights are ideal. This is because they cause the body to employ a larger variety of muscles, resulting in faster gains.

For instance, when you’re using a kettlebell, you’ll need to balance your feet and the rest of the body as you perform your exercises. This causes you to use more of your body muscles. This naturally means that you’ll be training a larger variety of muscles than if you were using machines.

Drink Plenty of Fluid

During an intense workout, our bodies sweat and lose a lot of fluids; it’s not surprising to lose between 6% and 10% of your body fluids. This can cause a change in your weight, tricking you into thinking that you’ve burnt fat. Being dehydrated can affect your performance as it makes you tire easily and causes you to lose your energy. What’s more, being dehydrated will also slow down your recovery.

Staying hydrated helps improve blood flow, thus helping to transport oxygen to the muscles. This provides you with the energy for your workout.

Adequate Amounts of Sleep

It’s important that you get sufficient amounts of sleep after every workout as well as for every night of the week. This is because sleep allows the body to recuperate and heal. It’s during sleep that the body releases growth hormone, which is essential in building lean tissue. After tearing your muscles up during training, the growth hormone will help your muscles recover.

Lacking sufficient sleep would likely result in loss of energy the following day. Your body could also hit a plateau as it doesn’t get the chance to fully recover.

Final Thoughts

Above are eight ways that you can use in your training to see faster development and changes in your physique. Always remember to incorporate a healthy diet and to always remain hydrated. Furthermore, ensure that you’re getting sufficient amounts of sleep every night. Doing so allows your body the rest it needs to recover and recuperate from the workout.