Everyone wants the best benefits of hitting the gym, and the ability to flex those gains, but it is not all about what you do in the gym. Below are four hacks to boosting your workout performance to see those benefits.
1. Fueling Your Body
Gaining in the gym is not all about the weight you can lift or the exercises you do; without adequate nutrition, you will soon see a plateau in your workouts. There is some truth to the egg, chicken and rice diet but do you really understand why that is? Nutritionists recommend 1g of protein per pound of your body target weight per day for muscle growth. This can be difficult to get just from food, so supplements and powders can be recommended to increase strength and performance. There are many different types out there to suit your budget and diet lifestyle. Research which is best for you and then experiment with trial and error to see which benefits you the most.
2. Rest and Recovery
Now, no one likes a rest day, but they are crucial to allowing your body time to recover and repair before putting it through another brutal, muscle gaining workout. Experts recommend an optimal recovery time of 48-72 hours for high intensity workouts. This doesn’t mean you can sit around all day for three days, however! Doing lighter reps and maybe adding in some low intensity cardiovascular work on your recovery days so you don’t feel like you’re doing nothing will help the recovery process and make you ready for the next weight smashing workout.
Sleep is also super important. A minimum of seven hours sleep is recommended for muscle growth. If you struggle with sleep, there are routines and meditations that can help, along with making sure you are not working out too close to your normal sleep time as this can wake the brain up and make falling asleep harder.
3. Visualize Your Workout
This next hack may not seem like much, but studies have suggested that visualization can have a big effect on your workout performance. It can result in heavier weights, more reps and therefore increase results. Visualizing your workout in as much detail as you can will help you stick to your plan and increase your confidence. Visualize the workout you want to do, the exercises, and the reps. Visualize how it will feel, the music you want to listen to, the pull in your muscles. The more in depth you can visualize it, the more success you will have with it.
4. Make a Plan, and Stick to It
This hack is very self-explanatory and goes along with visualization. The worst thing to do for your workout performance is to not know what you’re doing. Going into the gym and not putting your all into the exercises because you’re not sure what to do or what exercises will give the best benefit is the surest way to flatline your gains.
There are many different plans you could follow, some paid for and some free. You could invest in a personal coach to create a plan for you and to hold you accountable for your workouts. Either way, having a sure-fire plan in place, knowing what to eat, what exercises to do and what weights to lift is a great way to boost your workout performance.
Practice these four hacks, take the time to research and find what will work best for you since each workout journey is personal, and reap the benefits of improving your workout performance. Within no time you will be flexing those gains and getting the satisfaction you deserve.
