Building and following a fitness routine can improve your overall health in several ways. Through a fitness routine, you can lose weight easier, reduce your risks of developing chronic illnesses, and keep your brain healthy.
If you’ve been working out for years but still not seeing any results, it might be time to revamp your fitness routine. Small changes can create bigger impact on your journey to achieving optimal health.
A fitness routine shouldn’t only cover your physical workouts. You should also be keen on other factors as these can impact the effectivity and success of your fitness routine.
To boost your fitness routine and attain optimal results faster, take the time to make these easy changes:
1. Increase Protein Intake
For you to see the results of your fitness routine, you should be committed to working out. Regardless of how comprehensive and effective your fitness routine is, if you’re only going to follow it for a couple of days, don’t expect to see life-changing or noticeable results.
Increase your protein intake so you’ll have the strength to continue with your workouts. It’ll be challenging for you to follow your fitness routine long-term if your muscles are sore and cramped after your first day of working out.
Whenever you work out, the fibers of your muscles are broken down into smaller parts. You need to consume foods rich in protein or invest in a natural protein alternative to help your muscles repair and rebuild.
Regularly consuming protein can maximize the effects of your fitness routine by helping your muscles recover faster.
2. Try Pre-Workout Supplements
Pre-workout supplements are slowly becoming more popular. But, aside from being a craze, are you aware that high quality supplements can actually ignite your work-out sessions? Pre-workout supplements contain caffeine and beta-alanine, allowing you to become more efficient in the gym.
The benefits of pre-workout supplements don’t end there. Pre-workout supplements can also give you the energy to do more reps in the gym, aid in your weight loss, improve your body’s metabolism, and help you recover faster from your workouts.
If you’ve been following your fitness routine without any pre-workout supplements, it’s high time that you get one.
3. Set Limits
One of the most common misconceptions about working out is that longer sessions in the gym can warrant faster and better results. However, health problems due to too much exercise do exist. Instead of reaching your fitness goals, exercising for longer periods can only result in injuries and hormonal imbalance.
Generally, working out for 30 minutes is sufficient for you to be physically active. If you want to lose weight or attain specific fitness goals, adding a few more minutes is enough.
No matter how tempting it can be, discipline yourself not to go overboard. Working out for two hours every day can only lead to more harm than good.
If you want to lose weight or attain your fitness goals fast, increase the intensity of your workout rather than spending long hours at the gym. Following high-intensity routines for 30-40 minutes will boost the effectiveness of your workout.
4. Stretch After Training
Warming up before exercise is a common practice. This routine has been taught in your PE class, and you’ll likely follow the same even as an adult. But, science has proven that stretching before working out can only impede your performance.
According to studies, stretching before working out can limit your physical performance at the gym, lessen the force your muscles can produce, and increase your chances of getting injured.
For your next workout session, make sure that you stretch after your training, not before. Stretching after training can improve flexibility, increase muscular coordination, and boost your energy. Plus, stretching your muscles will become easier and safer once it’s already pliable and warm.
5. Exercise At Night
Aside from the duration and intensity of your workouts, the time of the day when you’ll work out should also be considered. Your body changes by the clock, and working out at different times of the day can reap different results.
If you want to build muscles fast, start exercising at night. Since your body produces cortisol in the morning, working out during this time can hinder muscle growth. Cortisol is a type of hormone that naturally prevents your body from creating and developing new muscle tissues.
Working-out at night can also help you sleep more soundly and can be a great stress-reliever after a tough day at school or work.
Variety Is Key
If you’ve been following the same exact routine for years, making any changes to your fitness routine can be challenging. However, if you want to reap the rewards of your hard work fast, you should be willing to make changes.
The more diverse your fitness routine is, the more motivated you’ll be to continue with your efforts long-term.