If you’re growing tired or bored of your current workout or simply aren’t seeing the gains you’d like to see, it’s time to level up. Many people get stuck in a workout rut simply because they’re not trying anything new, and the only way to do that is to step outside of your comfort zone. Go get uncomfortable! This is where growth takes place.
In this guide, we’ll go over some ways to level up your workout and help you reach your fitness goals. From upgrading your equipment to having a better post-workout recovery and everything in between, this is your ultimate guide to leveling up your workout.
Table of Contents
Make Way For Warm Up
Regardless of how long you’ve been working out, warming up is always necessary. Warming up before any workout is essential as this can increase your muscle and body temperature, reduce your risk of injury, and increase your flexibility.
There are many ways on how you can warm up before any workout session, and you can start by doing some squats, planks, side lunges, and pushups. To prepare your body for rigorous workouts, you can also do some triceps warmups and jogging leg lifts.
Depending on your preferences, you can do many warm up routines for a few minutes each or focus on one warm up routine and then gradually increase the intensity.
Upgrade Your Equipment
Working out from home offers many advantages, including greater convenience, but it also has some drawbacks. Among those is are the limitations that your equipment offers. You might have a minimalist setup with only a weight bench and a few dumbbells, or you only have a cardio bike. Whatever the case may be, if you feel like your workouts are being as productive as you’d like, you might want to upgrade your equipment.
This applies to gym-goers as well. While you can’t necessarily upgrade the equipment at the gym, you can try out some equipment you’ve never used before. Never used the leg press? Give it a try. You don’t have to get stuck using the same equipment over and over again. Your gym likely has machines for every muscle, so you can get a full workout in a short amount of time.
Don’t be afraid to ask for help if you’re not sure how to use the equipment. There’s no shame in asking for help, and it’s certainly better than injuring yourself due to ignorance of the machine’s function. If this is your first time to buy gym equipment, make sure to do some research on how each equipment work and how you can maintain these in the long run.
Websites, such as westonfit.com, offer countless gym equipment, making it easy for you to own one that suits your fitness goals and budget.
Better Post-Workout Recovery
Yes, post-workout recovery is an essential part of leveling up your workout. Why? Because the better your recovery routine is, the easier it is for your body to heal from an intense workout and get back at it again. This means managing pain, getting more sleep, and, of course, changing your post-workout diet up.
When it comes to post-workout, your body is healing the tiny tears in muscle fibers that working out creates. The inflammation causes pain and soreness, and if you’re not eating the right foods, your body has trouble getting the nutrients it needs to recover properly and heal. You should be getting plenty of sleep, too; a minimum of 6-8 hours for most adults.
You can use CBD gummies for pain and inflammation, as they don’t have many side-effects, and CBD is a natural anti-inflammatory agent and painkiller. You’ll feel less pain from an intense workout, and combined with healthy eating and sleeping; you’ll be ready to hit the weights again in no time!
Hire A Personal Trainer
Often, it doesn’t matter how intense you work out, you just can’t seem to get past that wall. This is where a personal trainer comes in. More than just someone who shows you the right workouts and form, a personal trainer is your personal motivator and fitness expert. They’ll help you get out of your rut, improve your exercise routine, and even help you create a better diet plan based on your goals.
Personal trainers bring experience and creativity to your workouts and your fitness goals. They can also help reignite that spark of passion you had for working out when you first started. Contrary to popular belief, personal trainers are actually quite affordable, and you don’t have to go to them. Some personal trainers specialize in in-home training!
With the number of personal trainers today, it’s best if you picked one who has a personality that matches yours. Since you’ll be working with a personal trainer for months or even years, it’ll be easier for you to achieve your fitness goals if you’re personally friends with your trainer.
Add More Cardio
You can never have too much cardio, right? Cardio is everyone’s favorite part of their exercise routine, we know. All jokes aside, more cardio could be just the thing to help pull you out of the rut. Cardio increases heart health, endurance, and overall health. The more you work your heart, the better your blood flow will be, the lower your risk for heart disease and other ailments will be, and you’ll have more energy for other exercises.
Cardio is great because you can do just about anything for cardio. Don’t like jogging? No problem. Try biking, jump-roping, or simpler exercises like jumping jacks. The idea is to get your heart rate elevated and keep it there. Harvard Health recommends you do at least 150 minutes per week of intense or moderate cardio exercise. Do you?
Modify Your Frequent Exercises
Another good way to level up your workouts is to modify current exercises. If you’re just doing bench presses, try including an incline press as well. If you’re only doing bicep curls with your dumbbells, try other dumbbell exercises to spice things up and work different muscles.
There are literally hundreds of different exercises you can do to keep your body moving and help build muscle. Sometimes, the best way to level up your workout is to simply think outside the box.
Stay Consistent
There are many ways on how you can level up your workout, most of which are inexpensive. Regardless of how frequent your workout and what kind of body you want to achieve, there will always be ways to expedite the process.
However, if you want to get the best results from your efforts, make sure that you regularly follow the tips in this article. When it comes to maximizing your workout, consistency is always key–the more often you work out, the sooner you can see results.