Let’s face it, we are more active in the summer than we typically are other parts of the year. Well why not integrate that into some of your fitness efforts to help compliment your workouts with some of these tips. Knowledge is power, and adding some new things to your fitness routine could help you break past any plateau or help get you to the next level.

Stretch More

Stretching is one of the more under rated things in fitness. Increasing your flexibility it can make many daily activities easier. When you stretch a muscle, you lengthen the tendons, or muscle fibers, that attach it to the bone. The longer these fibers are, the more you can increase the muscle in size when you do your strength training.

Workout Duration

You should try and keep your workout routine to about an hour. After 60 minutes of exercise, your body begins to create more of the stress hormone cortisol, which can decrease muscle growth. If you want to have a more rigorous routine, break up your workings into a morning session and an evening session. Try 20-30 minutes of cardio and stretching and then your weight lifting or attending a class.

Order of Exercises

You want to be smart about the exercises you do and the order you do them in. You should use dumbbells, barbells and machines, and do so in that order. The reasoning behind this approach is that your smaller stabilizer muscles are used more with dumbbells, and they will fatigue faster than your larger muscle groups. By progressing to the machines require less help from smaller stabilizer muscles as you grow tired.

Work on Your Core

Situps are still one of the staple exercise to build a strong core. They help increase your range of motion, which works your abs more. You can switch things up by doing situps on a swiss ball or a declined situp bench. When doing situps, keep your feet free, as it helps utilize the stabilizer muscles in your core, and will help increase your overall core strength.

Make The Time

Life can become busy for all of us, so try and schedule your workout time like you would any other appointment. Even if it is only for 20-30 minutes, ensuring you exercise can help increase your overall productivity and increase your energy levels. It also helps reduce stress and helps keep you relaxed. So the next time you think you are too busy to exercise or workout, remember that by not exercising you risk having a negative impact on your productivity that day.

Stay Hydrated

Making sure you stay hydrated is important for your overall fitness. If you are not hydrated, your muscles will fatigue faster, and your ability to recover will be greatly impacted. It is recommended that you have 8 glasses of water a day. That is a general rule but if you have taken one of our classes, you know how much you sweat. As you are more active, you will need to be sure to increase your hydration to ensure your body has what it needs to perform and recover correctly.