The Belles are pleased to share with you Today’s guest post is from personal trainer, Steven Madison
How to Maximize Your Workout Benefits
Everyone wants a stronger, fitter, healthier body, right?
Of course we do. And we know that exercise makes us look and feel better, but we’re also impatient. How can we improve our workouts to maximize the benefits we get from them?
It might surprise you that the answer isn’t necessarily in working harder or longer, but rather to take better care of your body. What does that mean?
Eat well. Lots of people think that they can eat whatever they want and work it off by working out. In some ways that’s true, but consider this: when you work out, your body uses more – and requires more – of the vitamins and nutrients found in food that’s good for you. If you’re only putting bad food in, your body will be hard-pressed to find the nutrients it craves.
Let yourself rest. Do you know what exercise does to your muscles? It tears them apart. Literally. It’s just how they work. Give your muscles some time off to rest and they’ll heal and grow back stronger than before. But if you don’t take a break to recuperate, they’ll never heal and never become stronger. So how long do you need to wait? Studies have shown that 48 hours is enough time for muscles to recover, so skip muscle groups every other day.
Focus on a single goal. The two things most people work out for are to gain muscle and lose weight. Having one of these goals is great; having both of them is a recipe for disaster – at least if you are planning on an intense workout routine where you’ll see results quickly. The best way to achieve muscle growth is to focus on strength training with little cardio. If shedding pounds is your thing, do the opposite. If, however, you don’t need incredible results quickly, it is possible to build a 50/50 routine that does both.
Warm up and cool down.
We know it takes time out of your schedule to stretch for 10 minutes before and after your workout, but it’s incredibly important. Not only to ensure that you don’t end up pulling or tearing something and injuring yourself, but because muscles that are more loose and relax work better and become stronger faster.
Don’t train to failure. Although many fitness enthusiasts – or at least those who think they’re fitness enthusiasts – will tell you to work your muscles until they give out because pushing them as far as they can go helps to build them faster, there is absolutely no proof of this. Moreover, it can actually end up slowing you down because it causes so much damage to your muscles that they’ll require more time to heal.
Change it up. If you do the same routine over and over, you might think your body is getting incredibly strong because it becomes so easy, and be surprised that you don’t see that in your muscle tone or weight loss. Why is this? Because if we’re always doing the exact same thing, our bodies quickly build up a tolerance, making it less effective. In order to get the most out of your workouts, make sure to change them up every few weeks.
Start slow. When you first begin a workout routine, you’re probably really motivated to get going. You’re tired of seeing those puny arms or that flabby belly – or both – and you know you can fix the problem by working out. In short: you’re pumped. And after that first day at the gym, the adrenaline coursing through you will probably make you feel like you should do this every day. Try to restrict yourself, though, because most experts agree that three workouts a week is plenty for someone who’s just starting up, and no one should ever engage in more than five workouts a week. Exceed this amount or try to up the intensity too fast and you’re likely to burn out – that or your body will.
About the Author: Steven Madison has been a personal trainer for over 10 years, and loves studying the human body. It’s this passion that led him to also write and report on educational science materials, like skeleton models.
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