10 Things to do whether you Workout at Home or a Gym
January 15th, 2009
10 Things to do whether you Workout at Home or a Gym
- Know your “Why”. Why are you getting in shape, Why are you doing this exercise. Knowing your reason “Why” will keep you motivated.
- Set goals. (If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll remain lost.)
- Have a plan for your exercise routine for the week (even the month would be great). Make sure it’s inline with your goals.
- Eat right. You can’t get into shape on ¼ lb’ers from Mc Donald’s no matter how hard you try. Your body needs nutrition to grow, heal, and lose weight.
- Try to find a workout partner that is committed as much as you are. They will get you fired up on days you are thinking of skipping.
- Get rest. Your body needs time to heal. Rest is a key factor in your health.
- Know your limits and try to stretch them. (part of goal setting, see the SMART post).
- Mix it up. You will get tired of doing the same things day in and day out. About every three weeks I try to change my entire routine.
- Keep a log / journal. This is for motivation and documentation purposes. Its easy to forget what weight you used last time etc… without a log.
- At least once a quarter spend the money and work with a personal trainer. They can help you with so many aspects of your health and by having a Trainer checkup every quarter you kind of put yourself accountable to goals you set with them.
Categories: General |
Good Advice. I might add that “your mileage may vary”. I know in my particular case, my personal motivation outstrips both of my workout partners and I’ve told them both “Keep up or I’m moving on without you.” Sometimes, you have to do some deep searching to find out if your workout “buddies” are indeed holding you back.
As for the personal trainer, if you are part of a cool company that subsidizes it – bonus. If you’re a bit strapped for cash then you can try craig’s list (under services) and see if you can offer someone a trade (“I’ll work on your computer for an hour if you workout with me for an hour and check my form” or some such).
If you are lucky enough to have a workout buddy who is as committed as you are, ask *them* to check your form. You both know how you should be doing it, make sure you’re both ruthless in checking one another’s form. You’re not being mean, you’re preventing one another from sustaining injury.
My one comment is on the use of a log. Beginners tend to have an expectation that their body will perform the same or better on every subsequent workout, and feel frustrated when they can’t live up to what was logged from the previous workout. As regular training becomes a part of your life, you will find that the need to remember what you used or did last time fades as you become more advanced in your workouts. That’s not to say that the information in the log can’t be used to guide and move forward, rather, simply to say that on any given day your muscles can react differently to the same weight. The key is to work the muscle sufficiently to tear it down and grow (or lose weight). Sometimes that means a heavier weight than was used last time for the same number of reps, but it could also mean a lower weight for the same number of reps. The critical thing I’ve found is to listen to your body and push when it can be pushed, but back off if it doesn’t feel right. You will still get in a good workout assuming your intensity is at a reasonable level.
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Anywhere would be just fine, just do everything right, if you can you can hire a personal trainer az to get things started and done right.