Have the best workout every time you train
Want to have the best workout each time you step in to the gym? Like most things in life, quality is much more important than quantity, so here’s you can guarantee a great session each and every time, says New Body Plan fitness director Joe Warner
To look and feel better than ever you must make every single minute of gym time count. You need to guarantee workout success and have fantastic sessions every time you train. So, here’s our top seven tips on how you can do just that!
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Pack your bag for the best workout
Your preparation for a perfect session starts hours before your workout, but takes only a matter of minutes. And it’s as simple as packing your gym bag the night before.
“Morning You” will be so grateful this small but crucial job has been taken care of while you’re rushing around getting yourself or others washed, dressed and fed before leaving the house.
With your bag pre-packed all you need to do is pick it up and get on with the day. There’s no stress nor worry about forgetting something that stops your session happening. If it sounds too simple to make a difference try it for a week and see how much it helps!
Listen to music for workout motivation
We don’t need a scientific study – although plenty exist – to tell us that working out to music makes a huge difference to how well we train. Music helps get you “in the zone”, so you can block out all external influences to focus solely on the session.
It also reduces your “perceived rate of exertion”, which is the technical term for how difficult exercise feels. Simply put, music allows you to train harder and make training harder feel easier. So make a playlist of your favourite tunes and turn up the volume!
Back yourself for the best workout
At the start of each session, once you’re in the gym but before you’ve started your first set, remind yourself why you are there. Think about how fantastic you’ll look and feel once you achieve your better-body goal to give yourself that extra determination that separates a good session from a great one.
You can also use this tactic during a session for added mental motivation. For example, if you’re struggling ahead of a tough last set simply think forward to the pride and satisfaction you’re going to feel by finishing it, and knowing you gave it your all to get it done.
Have a plan and stick to it
We’ve seen it countless times: someone enters the weights room, looks around, wanders over to the rack of dumbbells, does a set of biceps curls, then walks out again.
If you walk into the gym knowing exactly what moves you want to do, and in what order, then you’re already halfway towards a successful session. But without a plan you either end up doing very little lifting, or fall back on the same moves you always do, neither of which is a good use of your training time. Have a plan, write it down on a bit of paper or in your training diary, then get to work.
Always write down your results
A big part of sticking to your plan is writing down your planned session ahead of time in your training diary and then logging your results as the workout progresses. If you’re using a New Body Plan Training Diary then you’ll already know the key info to write down because it’s all laid out for you.
If you’re using your own workout log, then copy down the info from your training plan and log your reps for each set and at what weight, tempo and rest periods.
And include other insights, such as pre- and post-workout nutrition, and energy and performance levels out of 10. Why? So you can look back on the session and analyse what went right or wrong to make the necessary adjustments.
Be more flexible for workout success
Sure, we could all benefit from doing some more stretching, but in this instance we mean act flexibly on the gym floor. If you train during peak hours popular bits of kit will be in high demand. So instead of joining the back of an orderly queue – draining you of time, energy and motivation – ask yourself whether there’s an alternative exercise option.
For instance, if the barbell overhead press isn’t an option use the machine shoulder press or a pair of dumbbells. In an ideal world you’ll do your planned session in perfect order, but it pays to think on your feet to not waste a single second of training time to get results faster.
Stay strict with rest periods for the best workout
Ideally you’ll have a stopwatch or gym clock to keep your rest periods on point, so you can leave your phone in your locker to avoid the many distractions it offers.
If you want to listen to music and use your phone for that, switch it to airplane mode so you aren’t tempted to check your emails or social media, or be forced to take any phone calls.
You’ve got the rest of the day to get on with work or check your feeds, and the more focused you are in the gym, the better your workouts, and the quicker you’ll get the amazing results you want.
To find your perfect transformation plan, take the New Body quiz!
Take the New Body quiz!
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