11 Workout Tips

Here's 11 workout tips that will make your workout more effective, easier and more fun. I have gathered these from experience.

1. Find something you love. There is no way you are going to keep it up when you have to constantly push yourself to go to the gym. Actually, I will tell you, I will never set foot in a gym. Ever again. Why? Because it bores me. I don't like people leaving sweat on machines for me to clean. I don't like to be in a room with a lot of people anyways. So why did I even try in the past? I had to make myself get up and go. It simply doesn't work for me. I now do something I love doing, and everytime a workout ends, I can't wait for the next one. That is what is going to keep me going. Don't do anything you don't love doing. You like Zumba? Join a Zumba class or do it at home! You like team sports? Join a basketball or soccer club! You don't like workout DVDs? Don't buy them, get a gym membership! You don't feel comfortable going to the gym? Do it at home! Simple as that.
2. Stop the lame excuses. "I don't have time". No, you don't MAKE time. Big difference. Every day has 24 hours. So what you have a busy schedule? So what you have children? You think everybody that works out sits on their asses the rest of the day? You think nobody that works out every day has children? You just don't want it. Everybody can squeeze in 30 minutes a day, 3 times a week! get up 30 minutes earlier and get your ass moving. Need your 30 minutes of sleep? Stop watching Gossip Girl marathons on Friday evenings with your bucket of B&Js. Another great excuse: "oh, my back hurts." Guess what, your back hurts because you sit on your ass all day. How about some stretching, some moving around, that'll loosen it up ;)
3. Create a schedule and stick to it. Everything becomes 10 times easier when you create a plan for yourself. Don't just get up and ask yourself "alright, what am I going to do today?" This might work for some people, but if you are reading this, chances are, you need some extra motivation. I love workouts programs because they tell you exactly which workouts to do, when. So easy. You can of course also make the schedule yourself. Write it down, type it up, print it out and hang it somewhere in the house (not in your basement).
4. Respect your rest days. As much as you might love working out, your muscles and brain need some rest every now and then. I workout 6 days a week, my rest days currently are Sundays. It gives your muscles some time to recharge and recover. Use your rest days!
5. Create a fun playlist. If you are like me, and get bored of routines, do whatever you can to spice it up a little. I love listening to music. When I do some miles on the stationary bike, I put on some music or I watch a show, whatever I can do to take my mind off of how many more minutes...
6. Mix it up. Again, I am the type of person that gets bored of things fast. I can't do the same routine more than once or twice a week. I need to do different things all the time, try different workouts all the time. This way I keep challenging myself and I don't get bored of what I am doing :)
7. Get someone to join you. Find a friend or relative to join you in your fitness endeavours. If you like working out alone, that is great, but I find that it's extra support knowing that there is someone that you can share experiences with. My boyfriend started the fitness journey with me, we did the same workouts for 2,5 months, but we found that we have different fitness goals so we are doing different things now. But I love being able to talk to him about fitness and health. I also love talking to people who are doing the same workout program as me.
8. Share your fun and progress with the world. A thought that crossed my mind the other day was: why didn't I start this blog earlier? Maybe because I was scared of failure? I love sharing my journey, knowledge and thoughts on fitness and health with everyone that wants to read/hear about it. Share it on social media, on your blog or wherever. I've noticed that people come to me with questions about what I am doing because of my enthusiasm! And that is just amazing to me :)
9. You're done when you're done, not when you're tired. Your body is stronger than you think. Your mind gives up faster than your body. Put a time limit, with every workout you do. Or a rep limit. Whenever I get really tired but I know I have to push, I tell myself "ok 5 more" and I do them. I don't stop before time is over or before I did those reps. Fatigue is not a sign to stop working, it is a sign that it is working!
10. Don't compromise form. Try not to focus on the time or on how many reps, focus on your form. Because 1, time will go by much faster! And 2, 5 reps with good form are more effective than 10 reps with poor form. When I do crunches for example, I can do hundreds, easy. But when I start focusing on my form (and I mean, really thinking about it), all of a sudden, my muscles start aching much sooner into the workout!
11. Check your heart rate. If you want to get great results and increase endurance, you need to find out what your maximum heart rate is and calculate how many bmp it needs to be in order for you to get the best results. If you're between 80% and 90% of your max heart rate, it's perfect. And logically, you never want to go over the 100%.