10 THINGS THAT WILL HELP YOU WIN IN YOUR WORKOUT!

1. LIFT WEIGHTS

Too many women specifically avoid weights, because they think they may get too bulky… but “If you just do cardio, you’re sabotaging yourself,” says Jacob Wilson, Ph.D. He explains that if you only do cardio, your metabolism can actually slow down, making weight loss more difficult. But incorporating weight training can help to build muscle, which increases your metabolic rate. Harvard School of Public Health did a study with over 10,500 adults, who spent 20 minutes a day weight training and the results were that they gained less abdominal fat over the course of 12 years – (compared to those who spent the same amount of time only doing cardio).

2. LISTEN TO MUSIC

While it may seem normal to listen to music while working out, recently the Indian Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology did a study that involved 30 men and women, that showed that people who listened to music recovered faster than those who went without it. Study’s show that, music boosts your body’s serotonin and dopamine. Both of these hormones are known to support recovery. 

3. INCORPORATE INTERVALS

Doing these types of workouts have more cardiovascular and fat-loss benefits than any other workout. The Human Performance Laboratory at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, found that those who performed a 20-minute interval workout with exercises including pushups, burpees, squats and lunges burned an average of 15 calories per minute. That is twice as many calories burned when compared to a long run. You can get the same results by doing as many reps as possible for 20 seconds, then resting for 10 seconds and repeating the same cycle –  for a total of four minutes. Finally, rest one minute, then repeat for a total of four rounds.

4. DRINK QUALITY WATER

Your body not only needs water to live, it needs quality mineral rich and electrolyte rich water to be healthy. Water is essential for nearly every bodily function, including regulating body temperature, transporting nutrients to cells, removing waste products, lubricating joints, and maintaining the health of every cell and organ within the body. Losing just 2% of your body weight in fluids can make completing a workout very difficult. Did you know that some people sweat out 6 to 10% of their body weight, which not only reduces your exercise performance, but your body’s ability to recover. According to a study from the University of North Carolina, it was found that people are dehydrated when they show up to the gym. It is recommended that you drink ½ to 1 ounce of water per pound of bodyweight per day. To ensure proper hydration – drink quality water before and after a workout. 

5. USE FREE WEIGHTS

Weight machines are great for helping gym newbies learn correct form, but once you’ve got it down, it’s time to move to free weights. Exercises using free weights like dumbbells, kettlebells and barbells lead to greater hormonal responses compared to similar exercises performed on exercise machines, according to a 2014 Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research study. That’s largely because free-weight exercises tap a wider range of muscles. “Whenever you have to move a free weight and you don’t have anything guiding or supporting you like a machine, all of your synergistic muscles have to fire to help you,” says Holly Perkins, certified strength and conditioning specialist, author of Lift to Get Lean and founder of Women’s Strength Nation.

6. GET GREAT SLEEP

Getting the most out of your gym time, starts in the bed! According to a Sports Medicine review, poor sleep hinders not only your exercise performance (which includes the number of calories you are able to burn), but also your body’s ability to come back stronger after each workout. This is because sleep is the driver for the hormonal shifts that promote the body’s recovery to exercise.  Without quality sleep, you will never be able to achieve or maintain your fitness goals. Your goal should be to get seven to nine hours of sleep every single night and if you are a girl – it is closer to 9!

7. DRINK CREATINE

Research suggests that it does much more than help you simply build muscle or strength – creatine also has a positive effect on your bone mineral density, reduces oxidative stress, and boosts memory. One of the greatest things about it, is that you will notice muscle recovery happens faster. The antioxidant effects are incredible, as one study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning, showed significant reductions in DNA damage and oxidative stress following only one use after resistance training. These reductions can promote better recovery and allow you to train harder for a longer period of time. It is even believed that creatine may play a therapeutic role in age-related neurological diseases like Parkinson’s, Huntington’s, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and Alzheimer’s disease. So far, they have found that this supplement may be able to prevent the loss of motor neurons and reduce oxidative stress while restoring cognitive performance in individuals suffering from these diseases.

8. CHANGE THINGS UP

A 2015 East Tennessee State University study, showed that those who performed both deep and full squats reaped greater fitness gains than those who performed only deep squats. This was also true for any exercise variation that was studied. While you can do multiple variations of the same exercise in a single workout (like planks, push ups, squats, lunges, etc.), changing the way you do a work out  will also keep your body guessing, which will benefit you in the long run.

9. FIND A WORKOUT PARTNER

Researchers found that a cyclists who exercised with a partner pedaled almost twice as long as those who rode alone. It is true that having someone around pushes you to perform at your best. Simply having someone with you can even make a workout feel less difficult and overall help you get more out of every trip to the gym.

10. EAT MORE PROTEIN

Protein is made up of amino acids, and your body needs 20 different amino acids to function correctly. You can produce 11 of them, but you must get the final nine from the protein you eat. When you eat protein it enables your cells to repair and grow. Protein is a building block of bones, muscles, cartilage, skin, hair, and nails. Protein helps make enzymes that aid in digesting food. It plays an important role in hormone regulation, especially during puberty. And it has the highest thermic effect of all macronutrients, (meaning your body burns more calories digesting and processing protein than it does carbs or fat.) Increasing your protein intake can help reduce cravings and the desire to snack at night. Research from Maastricht University in the Netherlands shows that a nighttime snack rich in casein, a slow-digesting protein, keeps amino acid and muscle protein synthesis rates elevated all throughout the night. To get the casein protein you need. I have heard it said, that if you are a woman craving sugar – your body probably just needs more protein! Try it out!