Ladies! Get More From Your Workout
1. Plan. Don’t just go for a workout. Instead, know exactly what your workout will consist of and follow the program. Before each training session, you need to know how much time you intend to spend on a cardio machine, what exercises you are going to perform, exact number of sets and repetitions and the amount of weight you plan to use.
2. Stay Hydrated. Bring a water bottle to the gym and save time standing in line at the water fountain. Having a bottle handy will also ensure that you hydrate your body as needed. Drinking plenty of water before, during and after you work out is extremely important because even slight dehydration by just two per cent will reduce your strength and endurance by up to 20 per cent.
3. Push for Strength. If you want to burn calories for hours after your workout and increase your metabolism for days to come, do some kind of weight training. Worried about looking like a bodybuilder with weight training? Unless your fulltime job is pumping iron, this is very unlikely to happen by accident. Bodybuilders train differently and plan to build muscle, and this is all they do. Lifting weights will help you build a slim and strong physique.
4. Timesaving Circuits. Pressed for time? Try circuit training – it is a great method to build strength, stamina and endurance, while burning body fat. Moving from one exercise to another with little rest in-between will save you a lot of time and will increase the intensity of your workout. You can design your own circuit using a strength exercise for the upper body, followed by one for the lower body, then one cardio move. Do each exercise for 30 to 60 seconds without rest. After 20 minutes you will be pushed to your limits!
5. Change your Routine. Having the same workout day in and day out can get monotonous and exhaustingly boring. When it becomes a routine, your body doesn’t respond to the exercises in the same way as when you just started out. This is because it becomes so accustomed to the same stimuli of exercises that your body fails to recognise a challenge. The only way you can make any progression is by challenging your body with new moves, different order of exercises, different intensity, weights, sets etc. Different moves recruit muscles in different ways. Varying your routine will stimulate your mind and muscles, promotion progression.
C2K Personal Trainers December 2009
