12 Steps to Your Best Workout Sessions Ever

For the dedicated lifter having a bad workout day can be devastating. Having consecutive days of bad workouts is just unacceptable. For one it’s the sign of stalled progress and wasted time and energy in the gym. But there are things you can always do to ensure that you will never have to endure a bad workout day ever. Below we have compiled a list of tips that will improve your workout efficiency,strength, and time spent in the gym. Use as many of these tips as possible of to enjoy the most intense balls-to-the-wall workouts and maximum results from your gym time.

1. Know your workout routine before you hit the gym

Before you leave for the gym, you should always know why you are going to gym and what you are going do while you are there. The reason why most people never reach their goals after going to the gym week in week out, is because they go the gym without a predefined goal and routine. You have to decide exactly what body part you are working on that day and exactly what exercises you are going to do and the number of reps of each exercise. Better yet write it down in log book and carry the log with you at the gym every time. Every exercise and every rep counts. Doing this will always keep you focused on your goal and clue you in every workout you do.

2. Eat before workouts

What you eat before you workout can determine the effectiveness of that workout. To have a very good workouts you will need lots enough energy to fuel through them. Always prepare your muscles before your workouts by consuming a mix some protein with slow-digesting carbs.

3. Warm up thoroughly

Start each workout with a 5 minute warm up on a bike or treadmill. For each body part you are targeting that day, perform 2 light sets of 15-20 reps to provide blood flow and prime the muscle for the impending working sets.

4. Focus while you are in the gym

The single most cause of bad workouts is the lack of focus. You are in the gym for only one reason: to hit the weights with intensity, no chit-chatting or socializing. Save any chitchat for after your workout, never during. If you have big goals in the gym, you must be totally focused in on what you are doing and what you want to achieve. Always remind yourself of why you are in the gym and keep that in mind during the entire workout session.

5. Use mind muscle Connection

Keep your attention on the muscle you working on. See it expanding while you are performing your reps. Visualize your target muscle growing as you complete every rep and squeeze the hell out of it at the top of every rep. Never take your mind off the muscle you are working. You must always concentrate all your energy on the task at hand.

6. Train hard and intense

Nothing count as much in getting results in the gym as a high intensity, heavy hitting workout. Train hard and be intense in the gym. Keep your rest period short and progressively overload your muscles to force them to work harder. Keep up the intensity in the gym using training principle such as supersets and drop sets. These two training principles are one the best ways to boost intensity and save time in the gym.

7. Use a workout partner

Using a workout partner will allow to push through limits and break through plateaus. Pick someone who have similar goal, who is reliable and accountable. This make achieving your goals a lot easier and faster. My best workouts were with a partner. We were able to push each other over the limit and achieve the best conditioning possible because of how intense and fast we trained. You only get the time it took your partner to perform his set for your rest period and most of the time it was less than 60 seconds.

8. Listen to good music

Research has shown that listening to your favorite music while you train can make a big difference in strength. Create playlists in your iPod or mp3 player with your favorite music that gets you pumped and jack up your adrenaline.

9. Eat immediately after workouts

Immediately after your workout consume a total of 40-60 grams blend of fast- and slow-digesting protein such as whey and casein protein and 30-60 grams of fasting digesting carbs. This combination works together to enhance recovery and push muscle growth forward.

10. Get a good night sleep

Sleep is the single most effective activity for muscle growth and recovery. The exercises you do in the gym place a great demand on your body. And the effectiveness of your future workouts largely depends on how well recovered you are before you hit the weights again. If you are not well recovered you will not maximize muscle growth and your performance in the gym will be affected. To ensure that you perform well in the gym, make sure that you are getting enough sleep every night, at least 8 hours.

11. Stretch between sets and after workouts

Stretch between sets during the workout and at the end of the workout. Doing this promotes blood flow in your muscles and helps minimize the effects of delayed-onset soreness and thus aids recovery.

12. Change your workout routine often

Nothing works forever. If you stick with the same routine weeks after weeks, your body will adapt to and anticipate that workout, no matter how intense it may be. The end result: Your body will stop growing. Avoid this by modifying your training routine every 4 weeks.