Weight workouts can be tough and you may be wondering what you can do so that you can get the most out of your workouts. The last thing that you want after working so hard is to not get all of that last bit of muscle from the workout.
When doing training it is very important to make sure you are doing the following 10 things to get the most out of your workout.
Before Your Weight Workout
1. Eat a big meal 2-3 hours before your workout.. It is important for you to make sure that your eating is right, this includes a good sized meal before your evening workout. You want your meal to be high in complex carbs (grains, potatoes or rice instead of sugar) so that you will have the glycogen that you need in your muscles in time for your workout.
As soon as your workout ends your body will need to recover and if you are expecting that pre workout drink to heal you then you will be very disappointed.
2. Drink lots of simple carbs 30-60 minutes before your workout. At one time I used to drink some sugar water before my workout but later tried to switch to a good quality pre-workout drink. The reason you want this sugary liquid in your system before your workout is to make sure that you have the energy you need in your muscles or at least close to them as you start to weaken during your workout.
3. Stretch Always. Before starting your workout be sure to stretch and warm up well so that you will have the flexibility and looseness in your muscles to get a good workout without hurting yourself. do not stretch really hard as this can casue muscle strains if you are cold, wait until you are fully warmed up to get a great stretch in.
During your Weight Workout
4. Drink lots of water. We all know that it is a good idea to drink a lot of water during our workouts but the added short break is great to. Taking that few seconds to get a drink and rehydrate yourself will force you to refocus your concentration on your workout and you will definitely feel it on your next set.
5. During your workout be sure to breath deep between sets. Your body is craving oxygen and those deep breaths between sets will be a big help to oxygenate your blood.
6. Compose yourself. Before every set make sure to take a few seconds to compose your concentration and take some deep breathes. You need to be able to visualize the reps that will take place in your set and know exactly how many reps you will be pumping out.
7. Watch the clock between sets. When you first start working out in a gym it is not difficult to keep your time between sets down but as you get to know people at the gym there are more and more interruptions. If you allow it to happen your quick 60 minute workout will stretch closer to two hours and the real pounding of the muscles will not occur because they are being rested to long between sets.
After your Weight Workout
8. At the end of your workout stretching is a must. You may not be able to stretch very well with the swelling in your muscles but you need to stretch as much as possible to start to release the lactic acid from your muscles and keeping that blood flow going that will get rid of the pollutants and bring in the nutrients and oxygen needed to heal.
9. Right after your workout you will want to have lots of carbs and protein. Many people seem to like to go with 100 grams of carbs and 40 grams of protein post workout as this will kickstart your body recovery and your body is able to take in more nutrients post workout then at any other time.
10. Sleep and rest. Rest is critical for you to recover from a workout. The stress that you put your muscles through is very difficult for your body to recover from and the better your diet and rest the faster you can recover in time for another workout on those muscles.
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