How To Choose A Workout

Is your workout worth your time? I mean, do you actually get maximum from it? Just think about it: do you stall your sweat sessions by meandering around the fitness floor, waiting for specific equipment to open up so you can jump on it, or thinking about which exercises should you do next. These interruptions affect the effectiveness of your workout by decreasing your heart rate, motivation and calories burned.

Next time you got to a gym, try building your workout on a single piece of equipment on which you can do multiple workouts. That way you will maintain your MHR (max heart rate) and keep your body burn more calories, and we all want that, don’t we?

When choosing a workout, there are two ways you can do them: in a group or solo.

Group Workout

For some people, group workout is all that they need. And I agree, being in a group that motivates you, you meet new people, and sometimes having a high-energy instructor to push you through is just what you need to get best out of your time spent in a gym.

And there are countless benefits for group workout: motivation from your group, instructor that will tell you exactly how to do it (and make you do it), you will WANT to be there because, if you aren’t, a person that was next to you will notice you are missing, and so will instructor. Do you want to be “that person” who skips classes?

Also, by watching others you learn what you should or should not do, the proper way how to do a specific exercise in the right way. And believe it or not, our body remembers our routine if we repeat it long enough. So the instructor can surprise you with new exercise in the middle, or rearrange your usual routine, and that will again give your body the needed boost to spend calories.

But have you ever wanted to exercise alone? I personally love to be around people and work with them, but sometimes I just need a bit of time to myself to keep my thoughts, push as hard as I can and sweat by myself! So what can you do if you ever feel you need to get a “moment for yourself”?

Running

I am running. I love to run. Keeps my mind clear and I got lots of fresh air in my lungs and brain. Nothing better than a good workout that raises my endurance and keeps my strength as I’m running that last 500 meters sprint and sweat running down my face.

I have to point out that running has a big impact on your joints, so you have to be careful and run according to your needs and capability. DO NOT at any circumstances continue to run if you feel any sort of pain in your joints or back. That is the way your body telling you to slow down.

Do Some Strength Training

One of the best ways to really work yourself up is by doing strength training. Stay in your headspace by putting headphones on, play those pump up songs and get yourself some weights.

Here is one example of complex work out that you can do. What is a complex workout? No worries, nothing hard. It is a series of workouts with one piece of equipment that you do without putting it down.

Here is an example:

• 8 – 10 Alternating Renegade Rows (each side)

• 8 – 10 Single-Leg Deadlifts (each side)

• 8 – 10 Squat to Overhead Presses

So you do alternate renegade rows, single-leg deadlifts and squat to overhead press and just then you put your weight down.

Myself, I love doing push-ups, squats and Russian twist combined. This combination is great for the upper body, lower body, and my abs.

Stay Focused

I am sure you all heard saying: “80% of success is showing up”. But I disagree. Just showing up isn’t enough! You can’t expect to come to the gym, say to yourself: “I got to push myself hard” and expect that magical leprechauns and unicorns come and carry you through it… IF YOU ARE NOT WILLING TO PUT EFFORT AND SWEAT INTO YOUR TRAINING, YOU WON’T SUCCEED EVER!

A lot of gym coaches will tell you that you will see results in 1 month. Forget about that! That is impossible. Maybe, maybe in 2 months. But, you could be seeing it in 3 months. Because that is how long our body needs to adjust to workout. And that is why a lot of people get discouraged when they don’t see results right away. You got to stay focused and stay loyal to your goal!

How to set your goals? Let me walk you through. Let’s say you are working at the basic principle of 1:1 – 1 period of workout and 1 same period of rest. And let’s assume that period is 30 seconds. And your goal is to make 100 squats in 5 minutes. This is how you will do your workout:

1. 5 minutes = 300 seconds. Since we are doing a 1:1 ratio, you will be working only half of that time and the other half will be rest, so your working period is 150 seconds in total.
2. goal = 100 squats
3. goal / working period = 0,67
4. 0,67 x 30 seconds = 20 squats. So, to finish your workout and reach your goal, you will have to do 20 squats in 30 seconds.

Now, don’t forget you need to be able to do all 100 squats in PERFECT form! No cheating. If you cheat, you cheat yourself. And you will know if you cheat….

If it is too easy and you manage to make the last 30 seconds almost as first 30 seconds, set your goal higher, it is not challenging enough. For example, make 2 or 3 squats more per set (30 seconds).

If you having a hard time by the end to pull those 20 squats, it means your goal is too far and you can’t reach it, lower your goal. Now, it MUST be challenging, but it also MUST be reachable. So balance your goal well!

Test Yourself Frequently

One of the frequent problems, when you work alone, is motivation. Nobody can motivate you beside you alone. And the best way to motivate yourself is to be competitive. And you will be competing against your strongest opponent… YOURSELF!

How can you know who is winning? Track results. Write your time or number of sets you started with and check back in a month. Compare results. Who won? You or your competition? Did you get a better score than at the beginning? Here is a short table of how you can measure where you stand against your past you

And that is it! Now you have everything you need to work out the best way, alone. All you need know is willpower and persistence to continue doing it. Remember, no magical unicorn out there. Just you and your will. After all, that is all that you need, right?

I hope you enjoyed reading this post. If you have, why not share it with your friends and motivate them to get up and start making changes in their life, to make something for them self? And why not comment on what did you like especially? Or do you have a suggestion?

You can also send me a mail to dalibor@best4yourbody.com and I will personally answer you.

Have a nice day,

Dalibor.