If you’re working out and eating a good diet, you’re probably healthier than you’ve ever been before. However, as you melt fat and build muscle, you can’t help but wonder about what else you can do to make your workouts even healthier for you. After all, if you’re feeling so good, it’s tempting to raise the ante and ask, “Can I feel even better?”
Here are some tips to help you keep on making even more progress when it comes to health and fitness:
- Use food supplements.
Although you’re eating a healthy diet, it’s hard to assess if you’re getting all the micronutrients you need. Adding a multivitamin and mineral supplement is good insurance. And, if you’re not recovering from your workouts as quickly as you’d like, you could be getting insufficient protein to help repair the micro-tears caused by your hard-core workouts. In that case, try a protein supplement. You might be surprised how much faster you recover once you feed your muscles with the amino acids it needs for cellular repair.
However, supplementation doesn’t have to stop there. If you find it difficult to feel energized before your workout after a hard day’s work at the office, a pre-workout supplement will help you get your mojo back quickly. These types of supplements are formulated with researched natural ingredients that will work in a synergistic way to amp up your energy levels and crank up your endurance. Many supplements also provide nutrients to immediately increase blood volume in the muscles (the “pump”), as well as nutrients to increase strength.
- Stay hydrated.
Although fitness trainers and doctors frequently exhort people to drink more water, many people remain dehydrated because they are under the impression that they should only drink water when they’re thirsty. Actually, thirst is an alarm signal. It’s analogous to the warning light that flashes on your car’s dashboard when its engine oil levels are dangerously low.
So, just as you always want to make sure that you have enough engine oil in your car to keep it running well, you always want to make sure that you’re properly hydrated. Water is essential for regulating your body’s temperature and for lubricating your joints. It’s also instrumental in digestion and in transporting nutrients to all your cells to energize you and keep you in good health.
When you’re working out and dehydrated, then your body finds it difficult to perform at its best. If you persist in ignoring the symptoms of thirst because you don’t want to interrupt your workout and plan on drinking water later, you’re likely to get tired quickly and may even suffer from muscle cramps and dizziness.
How much water should you drink a day? In an article on hydration in WebMD, Trent Nessler, managing director of Baptist Sports Medicine in Nashville, says: “It depends on your size and weight, and also on your activity level and where you live. In general, you should try to drink between half an ounce and an ounce of water for each pound you weigh, every day. For example, if you weigh 150 pounds, that would be 75 to 150 ounces of water a day.”
- Round out your fitness routine.
There are many aspects of fitness: strength, endurance, and flexibility. While most forms of exercise will contribute a little to each aspect, you can enhance your overall health by creating a more balanced routine. So, for example, if you’re lifting weights, you’re probably already increasing your endurance and your flexibility as you build your strength, but you can improve your health and fitness level even more by adding a few cardiovascular routines and stretching sessions to your weekly exercise plan.
- Exercise with others
Although you’re probably motivated enough working out by yourself, you’ll feel even more motivated if you workout with a training buddy. And if you really want to increase your gains, then hire a fitness trainer. He or she will teach you many smart ways to improve as an athlete.
Raise the Bar
As human beings, we love to achieve goals. It gives us a deep sense of fulfillment. Still, after we achieve a goal that once appeared impossible, we often ask about what else is possible. By trying these four tips, you’ll surprise yourself with how much more you can achieve with your fitness regime.