Its 3 P.M., and you left your trail
mix and dried fruit at home. You never forget your snacks. Ever. Today, you are
secretly excited that you get to mix it up a little bit and indulge in
something out of the daunting vending machine.
You anxiously walk over to the vending machine and stare down the
options, knowing you only have one chance to make this huge, ever-so-important decision. B5— NO, WAIT, B7. Uhh…Your finger
nervously goes back and forth between the two. Finally, not knowing if you made
the right decision, you press B7 and… wait, what just happened?! The coil kept
spinning and TWO of your favorite delicious treats fell right into your eagerly
awaiting hands. This is the only analogy I could think of to match the pure
ecstasy and satisfaction gained from leaving the gym after an amazing workout,
where the weights feel as light as feathers, and the treadmill seems to be
getting tired trying to keep up with you. Your spirits are soaring, your
confidence is high, and nothing can bring you down. The next day, you feel no
soreness at all, so you go back into the gym feeling on top of the world ready
to mimic yesterday’s performance. 20 minutes into your workout and something’s
not right. Your arms feel like rubber, your legs feel like Jello, and you’re wheezing
like a lifetime smoker even though you’ve never before touched a cigarette. This
time, you pressed B7 and the coil never spun at all. There are a few reasons
this could have happened, we’re going to give you some tips to help you in the
gym, preventing burn-out and bad workouts.
Remember when you played little league and you had
to stretch and run laps before every game or practice? If you were like me,
then you hated that. It’s no coincidence that high school, college, and
professional athletes also do this! You should be warming up every single time
before any workout you choose to do; be it weights, running, boxing, sports,
etc. There are so many benefits to warming up before a workout, it not only
increases your recovery and performance for your next session, but it actually
directly positively impacts your workout that day! Warming up increases your
heart rate and dilates your capillaries, which allows oxygen in the blood to
travel faster and at a higher volume, and also enables joints to move more
efficiently and with greater flexibility. As the name implies, it also
increases the temperature in the muscles, (or warms them up, get it?) which
allows increased flexibility, extensibility, and elasticity of muscle fibers,
along with increased force and speed of contraction. Also, warming up serves as
your best “pre workout” as it releases adrenaline, and increases muscle
metabolism. This will supply you with energy through the breakdown of glycogen.
On top of this, it also removes lactic acid! Who knew warming up could be so
vital to a workout and recovery?
Even the most experienced athletes
make some of the same mistakes that people first stepping foot in the gym make.
The first mistake ties right into the warm-up. Always do warm-ups relevant to
the type of exercise you are going to be doing! If you plan on going for a run,
don’t warm up with a light set of bench press, and vice versa. Also, we know
that usually more reps of lighter
weight gets you “toned” and low reps of higher weight get you “bigger” but
don’t only lift heavy weights, or light weights! You need to mix it up, or else
your workout will become predictable to your body, and your results may
“plateau” or hit a wall. This same concept applies to performing the same
workouts over and over. You should be changing your workout plan every month to
month and a half, in order to prevent hitting a plateau. Just because you find a
workout that you like, and seems to be working, doesn’t necessarily mean it
will continue to work if you don’t change it up!
There are many ways to get burnt out, both
physically and mentally—take heed to a couple of these easy tips to not only
make your exercise more enjoyable, but to also get more out of your sessions! Also,
we know that your energy and intensity levels are high when you’re in the gym,
and you want to do as much as you can while you’re there. Sometimes, you don’t
realize you’re tired because your adrenaline is pumping-- until you hit a wall
and can barely lift your arms. To prevent this, always take time to rest up
between sets. It is important to not take too much time, but not rush right
into your next set, lap, or exercise either. If you time yourself between sets,
take about 1-2 minutes (depending on the intensity and weight/reps ratio you
are doing) and then get back at it!
Even if you follow all of these tips, there are still
certain things that are hard to prevent. Burning yourself out, both physically
and mentally, is one extremely easy way to not only ruin your workout for the
day, but ruin your exercise habits as a whole. The first mistake most
new-comers to the gym make is that they are too gung-ho about their new workout
routine so they do not pace themselves properly. Do not go to the gym every
day, because when you are building muscle, the REST days are when the muscle
repairs itself! Everybody is different, and it depends what kind of exercise
you are doing, but as a general safe-bet rule, don’t work out more than 4 days
of the week, giving yourself at least 3 days to repair the muscle. Along the same lines, do not overwork
yourself in individual training sessions. Do not keep running until you can’t
move your legs, or keep lifting weights until your body is too sore to get out
of bed. This will not only deter you from going back to your workout plan the
next day, but even if you do go, you may be too sore to get a get work out in.
It
is also easy, believe it or not, to mentally burn yourself out. By failing to
switch up your routine, not only can you plateau, but you can also just
straight out get bored! If the motivation is not there, it is going to be very
hard, if not impossible, to convince yourself to work out on a consistent
basis. On the same note, if you have been working out for half a year straight,
(of course with your regular days off), maybe it is time to take a week or two
off. I know a lot of you may think you would not be able to get back into the
habit, but more likely, if you continue to work out with no breaks, you will
just lose interest in working out altogether as it will have become a mundane
chore. Finally, keep the right attitude! Everyone is going to have bad days in
the gym, it doesn’t mean you aren’t making progress or regressing—it happens to
everyone. Regardless of how good, or bad your results are, stick to your
workout plan and schedule. Do not increase your days, mileage, or weights, just
because you are getting great results, but rather stick to your designed plan.
At the same time, if you are gaining weight, or losing muscle (depending on
your goals), and that is not what you want do NOT give up on your workout
plan—give it a few weeks or a month before you decide if it is working or not.
Remember, to put it in a language you may understand. Working out is a
marathon, not a sprint. Hang in there!
See you at the
finish line,
Your friends at
Phix
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