5 Tips for Exercise Success!

Face it, exercise is a challenge to us and some days it may be easier to give up.

Here’s some easily followed tips to help you stay focused, stay engaged and meet your weight and muscle goals!

1) Keep an exercise log

Keeping a log of your training sessions, every exercise you performed along with reps, sets and how much weight you lifted for how long, you keep a log of your progress. It’s also a good idea to document how you felt before and after your session along with any nutrional supplements taken before or afterward.

In doing so you are able to go back to see your improvements and a wealth of information, you can even find what was working and what was not working for you and improve your exercise routine.

2) Rest!

Your muscles don’t grow while you’re exercising, in fact they grow when you’re resting after your sessions. So take time after each strenuous exercise period in our 24/7 hour gym, from our Fitness on Request program and trainers, to rest, relax and allow your body to reap the most benefit.

If you don’t, you will see slower progress in your development and your efforts will work against you by taking longer than it can if done correctly. So take a rest, don’t over exercise yourself and relax!

3) Life is about variety, so isn’t exercise.

Your life thrives on variety, you wouldn’t eat the same foods over and over, day in and day out every meal of the day would you? Your muscles are like your stomach and tastes, they thrive on variety so spice things up, do different sets, reps and routines in your weekly routine.

Don’t be afraid to try new things, afterall with your log, you will know what’s working for you and what isn’t and you can keep things exciting for your muscles for maximum benefit.

4) Don’t overwork yourself!

Remember, rest is important, make sure you take a break between workouts and sets so you can recover your muscles and do better in the next workout and set.

You don’t gain any more muscle overworking them than you do by resting between sets, reps and workouts but it does take you much longer to see the benefit if you do overwork yourself.

An example, on Monday you worked your upper-body, on Tuesday focus on your legs and lower-body and Wednesday, focus on your arms and back. If after two days, your are ‘sore’ from an exercise, give it another day and rest those muscles (eg. your legs) and remember, it’s okay to take a day from exercise to recover.

5) Don’t starve your body

You need energy to exercise, 30 minutes before you start your session, take the time to eat a pre-workout meal with carbs and lean proteins. You will burn it off in the workout if done correctly and your body will thank you by working harder, longer and giving you more benefit in the end.

You should also eat a simple sugar based meal after your session to restore your energy levels, namely your insulin and glycogen levels to feed your muscles. You should preferably use a meal replacement drink which are based on dextrose or maltodextrin as simple sugars for your post-workout replenishment.