If you are involved in some kind of fitness regime, it goes without saying that you want it to be as effective as possible. But wanting it and making it happen are two very different things, and plenty of people struggle to bring into existence the kind of results they are after. No matter what your regime is, what your preferred exercises are, you can vastly improve your effectiveness of working out by looking at a few basic things. Let’s have a look at what they are, and how to massively improve your workout today.
Have A Goal & Make It Realistic
It is amazing how many people hurl themselves onto a path of greater fitness and self-improvement, but don’t actually set themselves any goals. You can do that, and you will definitely see improvements regardless, but you might have a hard time keeping up the morale, and keeping up the pace, if you don’t have something specific to aim for. Set yourself goals, and you are opening up a completely different way of approaching fitness – a way which is much more effective and much more beneficial.
Good goals are clear, in that you will know exactly whether or not you have actually achieved it, and when. They are concrete, meaning that they are based in something measurable rather than a general idea or trend to which you are working towards. For example, it is much better to say that you want to fit into a certain dress or lose a certain amount of weight than it is to say that you want to feel better about yourself, or just ‘get fit’. Specificity is the key, as is giving yourself some kind of a time frame. It really doesn’t matter how long this is, so long as you are comfortable with it – but remember that this is one thing which you should be relatively flexible on, and allow yourself to change it if necessary.
Finally, a decent goal is one which is realistic, but still something of a challenge to reach. Finding this harmonious balance can be a real difficulty, but it is definitely worth it if you want to make your fitness game much more effective.
Get To Know Your Body & The Science Of Fitness
So, you workout regularly and you watch your diet, and you know where you want to go. Although you might well achieve plenty this way, it is also true that you can probably achieve much more by coming to understand a little more about the way that your body works in relation to fitness, and about exercise and fitness in general. The more you know, the more likely it is that you will be able to make significant strides in your approach to your own fitness, so it’s worth carrying out at least some basic research before you get started.
What are the kinds of things you should be looking into? Generally, it is very useful if you have some keen understanding of what actually happens inside your body during exercise. This in turn will help you to make all those small changes which add up to make a considerable difference to the effectiveness of your exercise sessions. For example, did you know that breathing deeply through your mouth in measured breaths while running causes a mini-workout within your diaphragm which further boosts the cardiovascular benefits of the run? It is knowing these little things that enables you to improve your workout hugely.
You might also want to think about looking into the science of fitness, particularly if you have a specific goal like losing weight in mind. To lose weight more effectively, you might want to use an lbm calculator in order to figure out your lean body mass. It is knowing this kind of thing which helps you to get towards your goal, as well as work out what your goal should actually be. Make sure you learn as much as you can in order to vastly improve your chances of success.
Find A Partner
There is mounting evidence that working out with a partner massively increases your chances of reaching any goal you might have. It is partly down to the fact that you unconsciously compete with the other person when you exercise together, and it’s partly that you hold each other accountable throughout the journey. So if at all possible, you should try to seek out someone you can feel comfortable exercising with.
It’s not just the exercise which benefits from this, however. You will also find that other aspects, such as watching what you eat, can be greatly improved by having someone do it with you. This is well worth thinking about if you are serious about improving your fitness regime on the whole, as it is proven to work very well.
Give Yourself Rewards
One of the biggest mistakes that people make on the path to better fitness is to become too gung-ho in their mentality towards the whole thing. Yes, you need persistence and dedication, and you should work hard to ensure that you carry on fighting. But if you never give yourself a break, you will find that this is actually anathema to what you are trying to achieve. It is important that you give yourself a reward from time to time – otherwise you might not feel that you are getting anywhere, and you might even end up falling back on old habits which are not necessarily so useful to your journey. So take it fairly easy, and allow yourself the occasional luxury, particularly when you have reached a mini-goal or have otherwise deserved it in your own opinion.
Beyond all that, achieving better fitness is mostly just a matter of ensuring that you pay close attention to what you are doing and have the persistence to carry on. One last tip: consider keeping a journal of your fitness progress; this is likely to motivate you when you are feeling down, as you can see exactly how far you have come.
