What to do before you start an intense training regimen.
According to statisticbrain.com, two of the most popular New Year’s resolutions are to lose weight and to stay fit and healthy. If you’re one of the people wanting to make a change to a healthier, fitter lifestyle, awesome! Welcome to the club. The first step is deciding you want to make a change, and, unfortunately that’s the easiest part. Implementing the change is tough to do, but if you want it bad enough, it’s doable. After that, follow these steps to success:
#1. Have a Specific Goal
The goals mentioned above —” lose weight” and “ stay fit and healthy” — are vague. How can you tell if you’re fit enough or if you’ve lost enough weight to enable you to feel as though you’ve accomplished your goal? You can’t. Define your goal and start making small, incremental changes that allow you to ease into the new routine. This will help prevent you from becoming overwhelmed.
#2. Define a Timeline
Give yourself a start and end date so there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. Whether that end date is an actual date — say, in two or three months — or a numeric benchmark — losing five pounds, adding 10 pounds to your bench press, etc. — those specifics can help you track progress and give you an end game.
#3. Create a Realistic Plan
Whether you’re looking to lose weight, add muscle, run a faster 40-yard dash, you need the proper training and diet plan combo. One that will lead you to your end game is, obviously, a must. However, so is adopting a regimen that you’re actually going to follow. If it’s too rigid, you’ll find a way to phase it out. If it’s too lax, it won’t deliver. If you’re not sure where to start, seek the help of a professional coach, trainer, nutritionist, etc. An initial investment to get you pointed in the right direction is worthwhile and can also lead to success with less frustration.
#4. Don’t Compare Yourself to Other People
If you’re at the gym and the person next to you is bigger or putting up more weight, don’t let it rattle you. The way your body responds may take more time than someone else —those are the breaks. Tell yourself that you’re going to stick to your plan even when things don’t seem like they’re working. Exercise patience and in time the results will be undeniable.
#5. Anticipate “ Off” Days
Some days you’re going to be tired or generally feel off. That’s life. It’s a hurdle in the way of you achieving your goal that you can succumb to or decide to overcome. The choice is yours. But just remember that giving in will only lead to you justifying that it’s okay to cut more corners.
#6. Recruit A Workout Buddy
Doing so will help prevent you from skipping a workout or cutting a set short. When you’re going at it alone it’s easy to come up with excuses to skip: you’re tired, there’s too much work to do, skipping one workout won’t mean too much. When you have a reliable partner who is counting on you to show up and put in the work, it’s more difficult to justify leaving them hanging.
#7. Use The Right Supplements
Your whole foods diet must be balanced with the right macros — carbohydrates, fats, and protein. And if you rely on supplements, it’s imperative to consume the right ones. P4’s workout supplements are NSF Certified for Sport, which means they’re guaranteed to be free of all banned substances that appear on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s list. Pre Game and Energy Formula are pre- and intra-workout energy boosters that will give you the motivation to get to the gym and better yet make the absolute most out of your workout from warm-up to cooldown. Recovery Push Formula is a delicious, vitamin-packed drink that will help kick start your recovery process and help you do it all again the next day.
