Quick tips for a successful workout. (Thanks to Travis)



Tips on building muscle.

1. Before you do any weight lifting, you should warm up with 6-10 minutes of cardio exercises. The purpose of warming up is to get more blood flowing to the entire body, and get your heart rate up. You don't want to expend too much energy on the cardio exercises when warming up. Save that energy when lifting weights.

2. The most important thing is form and posture. It is more important that you are lifting weights with the right form, than to lift the most amount of weight possible.

3. If you are just starting out, start with the machines. Then progress to free weights. Free weights are better than machines because training with free weights will give you more balance and control when utilizing your muscles. What happens if you have a lot of muscle with no control? You do the math.

4. Do 3 sets of 12-10-8 reps.

5. Stretch in between sets.

6. Remember to do full extensions on every rep. When working out, you might have a harder time finishing the last reps with full extensions. This is another reason why it is good for someone to spot you.



Tips on building cardio.

1. Drink lots of water

2. Stretch before cardio exercises to prevent muscle cramps.

3. Remember to cool down (to avoid cramping)



How your body burns fat.

1. Cardio exercises (running, riding the bike, stairmaster, etc.) burns fat while you're doing it. Muscle burns fat even at rest. This is why it is important that you do both to maximize fat burning.

2. Cardio exercises you should do everyday.

3. When lifting weights to build muscle, you should try your best to not work out the same muscle for at least 2 days.

4. You are actually breaking down the muscle when you are muscle building. The muscle grows when you are sleeping. This is why it is important that you give your muscles time to grow. This is the reason why if you work out the same muscle every day, you will negatively effect muscle growth.

5. To maximize your work out, completely seperate your cardio and muscle building exercises. An example of a perfect work out schedule (while doing nightly cardio workouts) would be to do muscle building in the morning that requires you to push one day, then do muscle building the next day that requires you to pull. Rest one day. This will give each muscle the most amount of energy for every work out, and still give it 2 days to recooperate.



Diet, Nutrition, Metabolism, etc.

1. Always drink a lot of water. At least half a gallon of water a day.

2. Always eat breakfast.

3. Always eat when you're hungry.

4. Eat a lot of smaller meals. (A perfect plan would be to eat 8 meals consisting of 300 calories each every 2 hours.)

5. Eat immediately after you work out.