How To Make Every Workout Your Best Workout

Plan? Fuel? Warm Up? How to prepare and make sure every workout is your best one yet.

One of the most important sections of your workout is actually what you do before it ever begins. Ensuring you’re fully prepared before you start training will set the tone for your lift, help you get the most out of your exercises, and prevent injury along the way.

Step #1: Have a Plan

One of the biggest wastes of time is going to the gym willy-nilly and deciding what random sets of exercises you’re going to do out there. Anything that has ever been worth anything has been done with a precise action plan ahead of time. Mike Kryzewski would not just show up to practices at Cameron Indoor and roll the balls out. The US military didn’t just fly into Baghdad without any semblance of what the mission was. Star Wars wasn’t an improv? If you want to get the most out of your time in the gym, plan ahead. Write out your workouts in your phone or in a journal before showing up. Put some thought into what you’re going to focus on. Write notes for yourself to look back on.

As a bonus, this is going to help you be more efficient and intense in your training. You’ll be able to streamline your transition from one exercise right into the next without having to think or wait. And if you have a fixed time limit on your workout, now you’re getting more out of it. If you don’t now you get to leave sooner. Win/win.

Step #2: Fuel

“Your body is like a car.” It needs fuel to perform. And the better fuel you put in, the more you’re going to get out of it. This obviously relates to your overall diet on a day-to-day basis, but it also pertains to immediately before your training. Lifting weights on an empty stomach is a problem- you won’t have the energy to get the most out of your sets. Those last reps on each set should be the reps you’re getting the most out of. You won’t be able to get there if you’re starving and exhausted. On the other hand, you don’t want to have a full 4-course meal before training and be dragging your stomach around the gym either.

So what should you put in your body before training?

1. One apple (or a similar piece of fruit). Less than 100 calories and enough simple sugars to kickstart your workout. Goldilocks zone. Not too little, not too much. Raspberries, a banana, a pear, or an orange work as well. I have a 15 minute drive to my gym, and I’ll usually eat an apple on the way there.

2. Water. Without water, your workout will suffer. I promise. It’s good to stay hydrated throughout, but you’d be hard pressed to find a doctor or personal trainer who wouldn’t recommend water before you ever step foot in the gym. The American Council on Exercise recommends 8 ounces of water about 20-30 minutes before training. It helps your focus and endurance while preventing cramps, fatigue, and dizziness. Self explanatory. Drink water.

3. Preworkout. I’d be a hypocrite if I didn’t include preworkout. I take some before every training session. It has become part of my ritual and kickstarts my mind and body to get the most out of the next 60-120 minutes. Make sure you’re getting the most bang for your buck. The active ingredient we’re looking for when selecting a preworkout is caffeine content. My pre of choice is Bucked Up, as it has ~330 mg of caffeine per scoop. Don’t go crazy on this stuff, one scoop is enough. Don’t need a heart attack at the bottom of your squat.

Step #3: Warm Up Properly

Five to ten minutes is all it takes to get ready to train, but there are do’s and don’ts that come along with it. I’ll start with the don’ts.

DON’T

-Cardio. What??? Walking, running, rowing, cycling. All cardio does is burn energy. Energy that could be used to get that last one or two reps per set. Why would you ever start your workout by tiring yourself out? I can see the value of physically warming yourself up, but there are better ways to go about that then the treadmill.

-Traditional/Static Stretching. Think logically. Static stretching is to loosen up your muscles and increase flexibility. What is flexibility going to do for you when you’re under the bar trying to get your P.R. back up? Recent studies have actually shown that static stretching can decrease effective strength by up to 30% while increasing likelihood of injury. It’s actually been found that the calming nature of yoga-like stretches can make you sleepy. Long story short, your youth baseball coach isn’t always right.

DO

-Dynamic warm up based on your preconceived training plan. A dynamic warm up is defined as stretching while you move. Exercises like high-knees and Frankenstein-kicks are examples, and they aim to prepare your body for the training that it is about to endure without tiring you out or over-stretching the muscles.

If you’re planning on loading up your chest and triceps, focus on simple movements that activate the shoulders and elbows. Use a band or a light weight to add some minor resistance. If it’s leg day, how can you get the knees and ankles ready to go? See the link below for a list of examples with pictures.

So What

This might seem like small stuff, but properly getting ready for your workout is going to help you to stay on task and get those 1 or 2 extra reps that you need to maximize muscle growth. Over the course of your training career, those extra minutes and reps go from no-big-deal to massive difference makers. Those last reps are what separates average folks from bodybuilders, and bodybuilders from Arnolds. Do your prep.