As a Huntington Beach Personal Trainer, nothing pains more me more than to see someone practically live their life at the gym, but still feel like they are making little progress in their appearance or weight. Usually, it’s not their fault. In most cases, these poor souls have simply either been given some bad information, or otherwise haven’t been told some crucial fact about fitness.
Of course it doesn’t have to be this way. While helping people achieve their fitness goals as a Huntington Beach Personal Trainer, I have personal seen how just small change or adjustment in how someone thinks about their exercise routine can yield dramatic results. Here are a few of the most effective tips I have distributed throughout the years.
Keep Your Workouts Brief – More is not necessarily better when it comes to getting fit. Unless you are working out to train for a marathon, it’s a good idea to have your exercise last anywhere between half an hour to one hour. Any less, and you might be cheating yourself out of many of the benefits of exercise, and any more and you might run the risk of “over-training,” i.e. doing so much work that it actually stunts your fitness progress. When it comes to exercising, quality trumps quantity every time. Remember exercise should be fun, and you shouldn’t feel totally blasted and weak after every workout.
Don’t Ignore Your Post-Workout Meal – In those two hours after you have had your workout, your muscles are seriously craving some nutrition to kick-start their growth. A lot of trainers recommend taking a whey protein shake along with some high glycemic carbohydrate. But if you looking for something you probably already have in your refrigerator, try taking skim milk infused with chocolate syrup. The sugar in the chocolate syrup will quickly give your muscles the energy they need to start repairing, and the protein in the milk will give them the building blocks to grow.
Stay Smart about Workout Hydration – It’s a good idea to drink water throughout the day, but it is particularly crucial to drink before, during, and after a workout. As a rule of thumb, you should drink two to three cups of water during the two to three hours leading up to your workout. During your workout, you should drink one half cup of water for every fifteen to twenty minutes of your workout session. After your workout, be sure to rehydrate with another two cups of water or so.
Train Larger Muscles First, Then Smaller Ones – When weight training, it’s a good idea to train your larger muscles when you have the most energy, at the beginning of your workout. So you start with muscles such as your back, chest, or legs, and end with muscles such as your biceps, calves, or shoulders. This ensures that you have enough energy to effectively workout those large muscles.
Rest a Minute Between Sets – For most people, who usually perform between eight and twelve reps per set, a minute is the perfect amount time for rest in between. It allows just enough time for the lactic acid to clear from your muscles, thus allowing you to regain your strength for the next set. But it’s also brief enough to ensure there is optimal strain on your muscles, making your workouts more effective.
Of course, these tips can only help you if you already have a good diet and hit the gym on a fairly regular basis. The one truism I have learned during my long career as a Huntington Beach Personal trainer is that nothing can replace consistency, both in diet and exercise, when it comes to getting fit.
Chris McCombs is a personal trainer in Huntington Beach California. At one time Chris was 143 pounds overweight at which point he looked in the mirror and decided to do something about it. Chris lost the weight and started his own fitness business Positively Fit Inc. which services personal training in Huntington Beach, CA. You can learn more about Chris at http://www.socalworkout.com/personal_trainer_huntington_beach.html
