4 ways to make your workouts more effective

Effective workouts

  1. mobility in between sets

This is a great time saver and an efficient way to make the most of the recovery times in between sets. Its a method I like to utilise as it reduces the amount of time I need to spend working on my mobility outside of training. There is no reason why I can’t work on my ankle mobility while resting from a set of shoulder presses or work on my hip extension while resting after a set of pull ups. The aimlessly standing around in between sets should be a thing of the past

2. swap cardio for conditioning

There is a great saying that reads ‘cardio is great for running away slowly, conditioning prepares you for battle’. While cardio has its place, especially if its the mainstay of your sport, for example long distance running. Its benefits are not the most effective method of training for the main reasons people go to the gym. Most peoples aims are to build muscles, get fitter, stronger etc, this is where conditioning is far superior to cardio.

3. workout specific warm ups

Gone are the days of 10 minutes on the treadmill to prepare for the gym session. Resistance bands, slam balls, foam rollers etc are a common site now in most gyms. This is because they prepare the body specifically for the activity and help to mobilise the joints into the ranges needed for the session. One of the most popular methods is ‘glute activation’ using resistance bands wrapped around the knees and ankles before lower body sessions. This specifically targets the gluteal muscles, one of the key muscle groups needed for the session.

4. keep a training diary

This is a very useful method to record your sessions so you can track your progress, note recovery times and how you were feeling during. This way you can make constant progress and not end up repeating workouts. Its also great when you look back 6 months later and see the results of all your hard work. I like to take note of, the exercise completed, the number of sets and reps performed, how long recovery I had between sets, and how I felt out of ten for the session.

About the author,

Michael is an Osteopath, trainee strength and conditioning and competitive powerlifter.

effective workouts