At times it can feel like you are getting nowhere when trying to improve your gym performance and you have reached a plateau. This often happens when you are working really hard towards a goal but you just can’t get past a certain level of improvement at the gym. This is especially true when wanting to increase your weight training, you can sometimes feel stuck at a certain stage and can’t push through to get to the next level. Here are some outside of the gym activities you can try out in order to improve your gym performance and have better workouts and develop more effective strength training.
1. Have Good Sleeps
This can be a tricky one, especially if you have a busy lifestyle. But you may find that going to bed early and going to bed at the same time every night as well as getting 8+ hours sleep will help you feel more rested and refreshed. Especially if you like morning exercise, you are likely to feel that you have more energy during your gym workout if you have slept well and have a consistent sleep routine.
2. Yoga
Yoga is not just a fantastic addition to any gym workout but is a valuable form of exercise for everybody. Both yoga flows and stretches can be really beneficial to your gym and weights training as you are stimulating your muscles in a different way. You are likely to find improvement to your gym workouts already after a short time of practicing daily yoga. Try out some exercises that target the muscle groups you want to improve.
3. Revisit Exercise Fundamentals
Sometimes going back to the basics and revisiting your technique can help improve your gym performance and help you reach training targets. Although you may have done a particular exercise for many years, it pays to read up or watch some videos online to get some tips and tricks from experts or others who are experienced and have advice to share. Having a strong foundation and correct technique is vital to progress. One famous example that springs to mind is basketball superstar Michael Jordan who diligently practiced the fundamentals of the game over and over again and attributes his success partly to this.
Also, having mirrors in your gym can help you make sure your form is correct, or invite a friend who can be your spotter to join one of your gym workouts. Sometimes slight changes to your technique can bring huge improvements and may help you push to the next level. Alternatively, if you don’t have a mirror or spotter, you can also record yourself and check your form after you have performed an exercise
4. Take A Break
Taking a break from something we have practiced many times over can work wonders. It gives our body and mind a break. Creating a bit of distance can be an opportunity to evaluate our practice. You can also use this time to mentally go through each part of the exercise, review what you are doing well and where opportunities for improvement lie.
5. Diet
Take a look at your diet. Can you make any changes here that could benefit and improve your gym performance? Eating well benefits our daily lives in many ways and can be a game changer for our athletic performance too. Trying to eat whole foods more and reducing our intake of unhealthy foods is often a good starting point for improving our diet. Eating healthy foods that are good for our bodies such as fresh produce and whole foods will likely affect how we perform at the gym so give it a shot!
6. Believe In Yourself
It can be frustrating to feel like you are not progressing your gym goals despite working hard at them. Don’t give up and keep trying. Finding role models that inspire you can give you the boost you need. Believing that you can achieve your goals and picturing yourself as having already achieved your training goals can provide you with motivation too.
Conclusion to improve your gym performance outside of the gym
Sometimes it helps us to look for improvement outside of where we are looking for them. I hope you find these tips helpful and enjoy creating new outside of the gym routines which will help you improve your gym performance and reach your gym goals.