If you are a beginner then perhaps the biggest problem you will have lies in finding the motivation. It’s a common occurrence that many people take out a gym membership, then find it difficult to actually set aside the time to get to the gym. Hopefully these few basic tips can help you maximize your time, and provide you with a bit of motivation to get to the gym and utilize your time effectively.
The following are simple ideas that can help get you into a decent routine. Some take place at the gym, others at home, and all will help you in one way and another.
Keep a workout log
What we mean by this is keeping a workout log. You should record what you do on every trip to the gym, as it helps you keep track of what and where you are making gains and where you are not. It’s a simple thing to do, yet a lot of people don’t do it.
Keeping a log takes a few seconds each session, and that’s all. It’s useful to see what you did last time and what you need to do next, and it’s also a great way of motivating yourself. You can read back and see, in black and white, how well you are actually doing!
Set Your Gym Time
This is one for those who spend some of their gym time chatting with others. The golden rule is, don’t! Spend your time at the gym doing what you are there to do, working out. This way, you maximize your time in action, which is the bit that helps, and minimize your time hanging around.
If you want a few more tips you can also check out these tips that we reckon are also useful, and they recommend no more than 90 minutes each session, so long as you are keeping the intensity up.
Revise Your Diet
Working out is about looking good and feeling good, and also about being in tip top shape health-wise. So you don’t want to be eating rubbish when you are dedicating yourself to your gym routine.
A balanced, healthy diet is essential, and there are plenty of resources on line and in print that can help you devise a diet for your level of achievement and work out routine. Check them out, and you’ll be surprised at what you can eat when keeping fit!
Stay Hydrated
One big mistake that many people make is to not drink enough water. Hydration is essential for performance and dehydration can be dangerous. Working out will also make you sweat more than usual, so you need to take in plenty of fluids to keep yourself and your muscles hydrated.
Get Some Sleep
You might not think that you need sleep to improve muscle performance, but you do! The body is at its most relaxed when you sleep, and this is when muscle repair takes place. Try to get a minimum of six hours sleep per night to help you to function optimally inside and out of the gym.
Stretch
Our final tip, and this is by no means a comprehensive list as there are many more things you can do to help with a beginners workout, is to stretch before and after your work out. Dynamic stretches can be done at the start of your workout to increase blood flow and warm the muscles up.
After your workout you can include dynamic and more static stretches to increase range of motion and flexibility.
There’s plenty more you can do to get into the routine of working out as a beginner, so remember to keep reading, learning and putting what you research into practice.
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