Humans have an innate tendency to strive for greatness. It is perfectly normal that you want to perfect each aspect of your life and one of those aspects includes fitness. You’ve been working out hard and seeing great results, but you would like more? We hear you, we applaud you. That’s why we wanted to talk about certain tweaks that will enhance your fitness game in the name of remarkable progress. Isn’t that progress just the thing we all want? Let’s jump right in!
The right way to work out
It is common knowledge that we divide workouts into cardiovascular and strength ones. The latter group focuses on building muscle and cardio is there to get your heart rate up and make you sweat and hence burn calories. But, did you know that you could combine cardio with strength training? Add cardio elements to your strength routine through ‘active rest’, performing short bursts of cardio during your rest periods. According to fitness professionals, it will save you time and skyrocket your results. Why? You’ll keep your heart rate elevated during strength training which will help you burn more calories, build bigger and stronger muscles and increase your flexibility.
The importance of core lifts
When choosing your exercises, never skip the big lifts. Avoiding squats and deadlifts is something you can’t afford if you’d like to see a significant improvement. You’ve probably noticed how no one skips chest day at the gym. However, take a look at the squat rack and you’ll notice that it’s hardly ever in use. At least, not for actual squats. When people work their legs, they rarely use the squat rack or the deadlift platform. We have nothing against machines, but they can’t replace the benefits and core activation gained from doing squats and deadlifts. In order to build and maintain a solid foundation, you have to do some variation of squats and deadlifts every other day.
Perfect your nutrition game
It goes without saying that you need to completely eliminate junk food if you want perfection or something that is near it. Eating clean means that you need to eat foods such as fish which is high in omega 3s, nuts such as almonds or walnuts, berries due to their healthy phytonutrients and soluble fiber, dark beans, fruits (oranges, cantaloupes, papaya etc.), broccoli etc. But, if you really want to make a contribution to your muscle growth, consider adding quality protein supplements to your diet. Only the best protein powder is what you should aim at because you’ll want it to be absorbed as quickly as possible to improve gains and recovery time. If you want to be the best, you have to treat yourself to the best foods and supplementation.
Say no to comparison
You shouldn’t be obsessed with other people’s results. This applies to almost every aspect of our lives, not just to fitness. You can follow various fitness pros on social media and look up to them but never compare yourself to them. Remember that there will always be someone bigger, better, stronger and faster than you. Measure success by the progress you’re making and by remembering why you started in the first place. Take some time every now and then and reflect on how much progress you’ve made. Instead of looking at how far you have to go, look at how far you’ve come. Don’t let anyone get into your head. Focus on your progress and keep grinding.
Legs and why you need to work on them more
Last but not least, train legs more often. Most people, especially men, don’t train legs enough or at all. If you’re hitting the gym six days a week, train your legs on at least three of those days. Devote two days to strict leg training, on the third day, incorporate some form of leg training into your routine. Since your legs are comprised of the largest muscle groups in the body, when they are trained frequently, you increase metabolism which leads to higher overall testosterone release. When you have strong legs, you’ll look less top heavy too. And everyone who’s aiming at perfection wants symmetrical physique. So, make leg training a regular part of your routine. Don’t be that one guy in the gym who bears the nickname ‘Chicken-legs’.
