4 simple ways to make your workout more effective

eight-time Russian weightlifting champion, holder of the all-time record in the deadlift division

The effectiveness of training depends on a number of factors, compliance with which will help you achieve the desired result faster. Let’s talk about each of them in more detail.

Съдържание

Determine the purpose of your training

It’s important what your goal is: to gain relief, to gain muscle mass, to become more endurance/strength, just to keep your body toned or to lose a couple of extra pounds before a trip to the sea. Understanding what you want helps you stick to a specific exercise plan without getting distracted and wasting energy on unnecessary exercises.

On the way to the desired result, it is useful to set yourself intermediate goals in the form of specific indicators, different from previous workouts, for example, to do a certain number of approaches to the target muscle group more than usual, to perform an exercise for five minutes longer than in the last workout, to increase the number of lifts or approaches, to increase the load on the treadmill.

In this way, you will not only see the growth of your own capabilities and endurance, but also feel the approach to the goal. You will also feel the desire to break your own records and take new heights every time.

Get a trainer

Correct execution of exercises is the key to success. Which muscle groups should be involved, the duration and cyclic nature of the work, the exercise plan to achieve your goal, the weights and their necessity – all of this is important to know in order to understand how to exercise correctly, how to build the training and what changes occur with the body.

A mentor can teach you this at the beginning of your athletic journey. In addition, he or she can help you adjust the plan, taking into account your physical data and individual characteristics.

Make a training plan

A program of exercises with the sequence of performance and the number of approaches for each session will help you achieve the desired result quite rapidly. Properly constructed plan, taking into account the correct execution and regularity of exercises, helps to mobilize the necessary muscle groups to achieve the maximum effect of the tasks.

Alternate strength training with cardio exercises

Strength training is good, but don’t forget cardio: the combination helps you burn more calories. In addition, their importance for visible results cannot be underestimated: strength training develops bone strength and durability, while cardio helps pump up the endurance of the heart, blood vessels and the body as a whole.

It’s important to remember that strength training is best performed at the beginning of a workout, as anaerobic work requires a concentration of energy and nutrients in the muscles, and only then can you supplement your workout with cardio.

Additional exercises

To enhance the effect of the main exercises performed, be it bench press, barbell squat, deadlift, snatch or barbell thrust, you can use a number of exercises. They will make your workout even more effective and allow you to use your potential to the maximum, these are so-called supplementary exercises.

Dumbbell bench press

Working with free weights (dumbbells, kettlebells, barbells) after the main workout is the best way to increase strength and maximize the effect. This exercise loads the muscles and strengthens them more.

Leg curls in a quadriceps machine

I call this exercise “number 1” after the main exercise – squatting with a barbell on the shoulders. It works the quadriceps, making them stronger and more enduring, and strengthens the ligaments of the knee joint. It also helps to build muscle mass effectively.

Хиперекстензия

One of the most effective exercises for strengthening back muscles and preventing injuries in the lumbar region. The machine also works the gluteal muscles and the back of the thigh, which is a stabilizer for squats and deadlifts.