Everything in gym is a progression and a trainer or even an attendant at the gym can help you choreograph your workouts so you don't get bored. Here are eight tips that will help you workout better, longer and more effectively, whether you're lifting weights, hitting the part for a daily bike/blade outing of training for a long distance run.
From First: Men have a strong tendency to want to move too fast. Men usually think of getting the number of repetitions in, and they want to burst through their routine. To keep your joints stable and avoid developing bad habits, emphasize from first.
Opt For Quality: What you put into your gym time is going to be reflected in what you get out of it, physique-wise. Lots of people hang out at the gym for hours and do very little actual exercising. If you're at the gymfor three hours, you should have done and hour and a half of cardio, 30 minutes of abs and stretching and an hour of working out with weight.
Build endurance: A lot of people run and hit a wall somewhere into the single digit miles, especially if they're just getting back into it for the first time in months. When you're running the whole idea is to get your heart rate up for a certain amount of time and keep it up. There's nothing wrong with walking for a minute or two if you get tired before you start running again. Expert recommends running for four to five minutes and resting for one. The idea is to keep moving. Even if you break your run and start walking you'll still have your cardiovascular system engaged. It's better for you to rest too, because that will allow your hips and knees to acclimate, especially if you're going for distance. The same thing goes in the gym.If you're comfortable doing an hour and five minutes at level six then try climbing on to level 7.
Skip the competition: Trying to compete with that guy next to you who just so happens to have monster arms isn't the best idea. Men have egos and like to life more weight than the guy next to them. For example, if you bench press 135 pounds for six to eight reps and you saw the next guy benching 275 for the same reps, you're not going to come close. You have to work up to that. Plus, if you hurt yourself you won't be able to train and it will take you longer to get ack to where you were. That means you ultimately lose even more gym time.
Don't be a copy cat: Men have a tendency to watch what others are doing. Another guy might be a dumbbell curl a certain way that might be different from the way you're used to doing it. But that person might be doing it wrong and you don't want to pick up other people bad habits.
Think about progress: Your body is a machine and, as such, you have to think about your weightlifting routine as an attempt to keep that machine in a peak form. But you can't jar your muscle into lifting mode. You shouldn’t do biceps, triceps and shoulders first. It's important to do the major muscle groups first. Start with your upper body, then switch to leg exercises and then switch back to your chest. It's important to do that progression because if your biceps are fatigued before your work those major muscle groups, you're going to injure yourself.
Work the right muscles: If you don't have a trainer and want to work your biceps, make sure you're feeling the exercise in your biceps, not in your shoulder or triceps. Focus on the muscle and work strictly on it.
Vary your routine: There's no question that adding some diversity to your exercise routine will ultimately keep you interested in working out. You're going to hit the same muscles bicycling every day. The more diversity in your regimen, the more you'll work all your muscles. If you just run or swim and then decide to join in on a pickup game of basketball, you'll be moving laterally, which works an entirely different muscle group. You're just asking for injuries.
