After a tough few years due to the global pandemic, many of us found that we put on weight and lost muscle due to sitting around at home a lot more and stress eating or drinking.
If you’re keen to get back in shape this year or into your best shape ever, it’s important to keep looking for ways to improve. Read on for some tips to help you boost your workout results in 2022.
Improve Your Sleep
You know you’ve never going to achieve your best at anything, whether exercise, work, conversations, etc. if you don’t get enough sleep. Many people struggle to break through in their workouts because they’re simply not getting the quality rest they need throughout the week. It’s vital to try to get at least seven hours on average per night of proper sleep to help the body rest, heal, and reenergize.
If you’re struggling to sleep, it may be time to upgrade your bed. Invest in an affordable mattress that suits your sleep style, whether you rest on your back, side, stomach, or in multiple positions. Look for a mattress that works for your needs regarding firmness, too. Plus, ensure you have a quality pillow to sleep on that’s the right height so you don’t hurt your neck. Soft, breathable bedding is also a must.
Keep Switching Things Up
Most of us tend to be creatures of habit, meaning we often do the same things all the time. This includes the type of exercise we do. However, it’s critical to keep switching things up if you want to improve your workout results. Don’t keep relying on doing the same types of movements every day for months with no change, as your body will get used to this. You must challenge yourself and move your body in different ways to move forward in the fitness arena.
For example, instead of only going for a stroll every other day, what about running or jogging a couple of times per week, walking up some steep hills, or hopping on a bike (indoors or out) to switch things up? Or, if you go to the gym every day, try to use different machines, up the weights you use, or make other changes to your exercise routine. Many gyms offer different classes you can participate in, too, so this can be a great way to mix things up in a fun way.
Get a Workout Trainer or Buddy
If you find it hard to push yourself, though, it may pay to find someone who can encourage you to work harder and smarter. Many people invest in a personal trainer once, twice, or more per week as they know they’ll never do as much by themselves as they do with someone there to motivate, encourage, and push them. Trainers are also great at helping to keep doing different activities, which is another benefit.
Alternatively, you might like to find a workout buddy you can exercise with. Do you have any friends, family members, or work colleagues who want to get fit or get more movement into their days that you could walk, jog, cycle, do some yoga, or head to the gym with, perhaps? Or, you might find someone to attend dance classes with or even go abseiling or rock climbing with, among other things.
Stretch and Get Massages
If you’ve been working hard on your fitness for many months now and continually pushing yourself, you may have started to plateau or can’t boost your results further because your muscles are always too tight and sore. If so, it’s time to consider if you need to incorporate a lot more stretching into your weeks. Rest days are vital, but so is stretching out those muscles that work so hard.
Plus, many people find that they can get pain relief and then go harder in the gym if they get regular massages. Whether once a week, fortnight, or month, having a deep massage to work out the kinks is pleasurable and helps to release tension that can build up over time due to strenuous workouts and stress, among other things.
Other ways to boost your workout results include staying well hydrated, consuming enough protein, and prepping and planning your exercise to optimize your time and efforts. Plus, set goals for yourself and track and analyze your results to see what is and isn’t working and how to keep pushing and being more effective with your activity time.
Getting continually fitter, stronger, and leaner may seem like an uphill battle, but if you’re strategic about this area of your life and follow these tips, you should soon start to see significant improvements.
