I have put together some tips and information about how to organise your meals, your gym time and breathing.
Meal timing isn’t everything
People focus too much on timing of meals without knowing how many calories or macronutrients they consume each day.
Count your macros. Whether you are hitting you calories in one meal or six it isn’t as important as knowing exactly what you’re putting in your body.
Remember if it’s not measurable it’s not manageable.
The gym is not a chore it’s a privilege.
If you associate working out as a chore you will not only have a miserable time and not optimise your results but you will also eventually drop off. If you realise what working out will do for you physically mentally and emotionally you can use it as an outlet and actually look forward to training.
You will always do well at things you enjoy. If you don’t enjoy it then change your workout to suit. Work the muscle. Weights are an instrument to work the muscle and the reps and sets are a guide. Counting reps won’t make a difference if you aren’t putting the muscle under stress. Creating the micro tears is what will increase strength and size not just going through the motions.
Also make sure that the prime mover is doing the majority of the work and minimising the involvement of agonists (assisting muscles) a tip to do this initially is slowing the tempo down, having full ROM and squeezing the muscle you are working while it is contracted.
Breathe
Breathing is so important and even though it is a necessity in life people sometimes forget while exercising or have the wrong breathing pattern. Holding your breath during weight training causes a rapid and dramatic increase in blood pressure.
While breathing in on the eccentric contraction (lengthening contraction) and breathing out on the concentric contraction (shortening contraction) can help with explosiveness, the amount you’re able to lift and the mind muscle connection you have.