Start the new year right and healthy with these training tips that will help you get fit and stay fit!
Top Training Tips to Help You Achieve Your Fitness Goals for the New Year
1. Be Consistent
The most important element of training is consistency. If you want to see progress and achieve success, you have to commit and be consistent. Develop a plan that works for you and make sure to stick to it. It is easy to fall out of routine when your schedule changes and when you start to feel tired or unmotivated. It makes it all the more important to push through these tough days. You will feel mentally and physically stronger when you do.
2. Master the Basics
Before jumping to big weights and complex movements, make sure you have learned the basics. Build a strong base first and improve your skills from there. When you have mastered the fundamentals, you will reap the benefits in the long run.
3. Exert Maximum Effort
There will always be circumstances you cannot control, but you are always in charge of how much effort you exert in every workout session. It might be tempting to slack off on workouts that include movements you are not good at or fond of. This is when it is most important to give 100%. If you apply maximum effort every day, you will see drastic improvements.
4. Know Your Limits
Your body has its limits so be careful not to overtrain. Yes, it is important to go out of your comfort zone, but don’t push your body way past its limits. If you are too sore to even walk, go ahead and rest. You are only exposing yourself to injury when you push yourself to train when you’re in a bad condition.
Listen to your body and know when to give it time to rest and recover. Make it a habit to follow a post-workout routine that will allow your body to recuperate after a strenuous workout.
5. Set Realistic Goals
Striving for an improbable goal is setting yourself up for failure. When you set goals, make them SMART — specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time bound. Start slow and gradually add time, distance, and intensity. If necessary, write down your goals and post them somewhere you can easily see. Don’t forget to keep track of your progress as well so you can keep yourself accountable.
6. Supplement Your Diet
Proper supplementation is an essential component of training. If you want to boost your athletic performance, consider taking pre- and post-workout supplements. But first, do your research and learn how they work so you can intelligently identify which ones will suit your needs.
Also, remember that supplements provide nutrients that complement your diet. They do not replace foods, which means you cannot forgo healthy eating habits when you are taking them.
7. Don’t Take Shortcuts
Building strength and endurance take time. If you’re putting in the work, you might get impatient to see results, but you have to understand that progress does not happen overnight. It might take you weeks or even months to notice changes and feel your body get stronger and fitter.
When you’re starting out, instead of focusing too much on results, pay attention to your performance instead. Be consistent, stick to your plan, and stay focused. If you are determined, your goals can be accomplished.
8. Focus on Form
Maintaining proper form is one of the most important training techniques you should learn. Exercising with the proper form activates the muscle groups you are targeting. More importantly, it helps you avoid injury and muscle strain.
Some people tend to focus on the number of repetitions and forget to pay attention to form. Others neglect to maintain proper form altogether because it’s more challenging to do so. These are inefficient ways to exercise. If you want to maximize your time at the gym, be mindful of your form. Your workouts will be more effective, and you are more likely to yield faster results without the injuries.
9. Add Variety
When you perform the same sets of exercises repeatedly, your fitness level might plateau. This happens when your body gets accustomed to a particular workout and is no longer being challenged. To avoid this, switch up your workouts every few weeks or so.
Don’t forget to add different elements to your workout as well. Even if your goal is to build muscle, you cannot focus on strength training alone. You need other elements such as aerobic and core exercises, stretching, and balance training. By adding variety, you avoid plateaus and at the same time, you prevent yourself from getting tired of doing the same exercises again and again.
10. Always Warm Up
Warming up conditions your body before a workout. It gets your blood pumping, priming the muscles to work faster and stronger. And aside from these performance-enhancing benefits, warming up also helps reduce muscle soreness and avoid injuries and unnecessary fatigue.
Your muscles are more likely to perform better and longer when you do the proper warm-up before a high-intensity workout. Don’t skip this important step if you want to be at the optimal condition when working out.
11. Don’t Neglect Your Health
Whatever your motivation for exercise is, your health should always be your number one priority. Don’t be fooled by fad diets promising quick results. Chances are, these are unhealthy and unsustainable.
Diets extremely low in calories, for instance, may leave the body devoid of the essential vitamins and minerals it needs to function at its best. Going the healthy route may take more time, but it delivers long-term results.
Give this Evertrain-approved dumbbell circuit a try to kickstart your training this year:
These are the top training tips that will help you reach your fitness goals for the new year. If you are determined to make 2019 your fittest year yet, keep these fitness training tips in mind. Achieving your new year’s fitness goals will take hard work and consistency. It will not be easy, and there will be setbacks along the way, but if you put in the work, you are bound to see it pay off.
What are effective training techniques that work for you? Share them with us in the comments section below!
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