Workout mistakes that don’t work out well in the long run. Here’s how to eliminate them.
So you have stuck to your resolution of sticking to your fitness club membership. Great going girl! You want to make exercise a part of your routine. A word of caution here as sometimes, seemingly minor things can accumulate to cause major hurts and then before long you will be groaning at the very thought of exercise. Here are a few bloopers those enthusiastic women like you can avoid making workouts work for you and not against you.
Eating well and on time
Soldiers never march on an empty stomach, so don’t exercisers. It is marvelous the way you have disciplined yourself from day one, to gradually learn the ropes and exercise routines, overcoming the initial aches and soreness. Now you also have to discipline yourself to eat on time (especially breakfast) a regular and balanced diet (Carbohydrates, Proteins & Minerals) so that you can provide energy for use at the gym or your yoga club. If you don’t eat well your body is going to use its energy reserves to fuel the need at exercise time. Women with weight issues often go down the hazardous route of skipping meals and also exercising heavily which should be a strict no-no if you want any good to come off your regimen.
Tip: Try and have a banana or two at least an hour before your work-out so you remain peppy enough to hit the gym.
Take time to warm up & cool down
Warm up routines are sometimes even more important than your actual work out as they prepare the body for utilizing the energy and more importantly, to brace itself for the shock of the work out. Never ever get in to exercise mode without first warming up the concerned muscle groups as this minimizes injuries, wear and tear and muscle fatigue. On the spot running, skipping and light stretching are great ways to get you body geared up for action. Similarly, don’t just abruptly stop your work out, change your clothes and go home. That’s even worse than not warming up. Your body has been in motion for the time of your work out and those muscles need a little time before they can come to normal mode again. The energy flow in the body at exercise time to the muscles has to gradually cool down.
Adequate Rest
Rest well and the rest will all fall in place. As a woman you have plenty of things to do around the house and at your workplace. Not to mention the work out which is also another stressor (Albeit, a positive one) So if you don’t allow your body the time to repair fatigued muscles and tendons you are more likely to make mistakes in your work out and also run the risk of injuring yourself. Injuries and muscle tears can be painful and take a long time to heal. So imagine, reaching somewhere positive with your workout plan and having to start all over, all because you didn’t sleep on time or rest your body when it was screaming for just that.
When in doubt ask
You might feel embarrassed to ask frequent queries to your trainer with regards to any aspect of your work out session, whether it is the method of performing the exercise or sets required for optimum effect or even a diet and rest plan. Always ask. Trainers are there to help you and should have no difficulty answering the same query time and again. It is better to appear foolish than injured and out of action.
Add variety to your workout
Whether you workout to lose weight or to maintain your fitness & beauty there will be a time when you will need some motivation to be regular. Once the thing desired is achieved exercisers can lose interest in working out and can cut themselves some serious slack and slide back to their previous form in no time at all. Here’s where a dash of variety can work wonders. If you are into weight training then try to vary the routine and also try incorporating other thing alongside, such as calisthenics, Pilates, yoga, aerobics etc. This will help you learn how your body responds to other forms of exercise and who knows, you could even get better at more than one form of exercise at the same time.
Always maintain a record
A data fact sheet always helps you see how you are progressing. It can also give you easy to access analysis of the high points in your fitness levels and what made it possible if you have the data available. So any pertinent aspect of exercise, diet, measurements etc can be recorded in your personal journal to keep you motivated and target oriented. If you don’t keep even a mental note of your routines past and present, it indicates that you aren’t serious about your work outs.
Drink plenty of water
Exercise makes you sweat profusely so you lose a lot of fluids along with toxins, so you need to jeep your body adequately hydrated by drinking at least 8 glasses of water. Drinking plenty of water also fills your tummy up so you won’t over indulge on food and ruin all the good work you have been doing in keeping yourself ship-shape.
