So its been a long day, you’re tired and the last thing you want to do is train, but you made a promise to yourself and here you are. The gym. Your mind is on 100 different things and you need to get some focus, allow me to help……
One thing is coffee. Its not the big bad monster that we were once were told. It turns out it has lots and lots of benefits and one of them is to elevate your adrenaline! The amount and the quality does matter though, but even a quick instant coffee 20 minuites before training will do the trick, it actually helps burn off more body fat. After training, caffeine will repress your insulin levels so you will carry on blitzing fat!
Every one is different when it comes to how much coffee to have so start small and see how you go. Little tip: Don’t drink it too late!!!!
Seeing red!!
Yes the colour red can make us work harder. It triggers certain receptors in the brain which can help with focus. Up to you if you want to have a piece of red card in your pocket when training or make your gym wardrobe red, but it could help with that last rep!!
Listen, can you smell that??
The smell of fresh mint before doing a set improves focus and clears our airways so we take in more oxygen, which gets in to the blood stream and can actually help push the weights out.
A study done had two groups of 10 men doing max push ups. One group just went for it and the other group were giving fresh mint leaves to smell before starting. The second group, as a whole, were able to push out over 17 extra reps as a team. That might not sound a lot, but imagine being at the end of your set and then pushing out 17 more reps!! Its one way to definitely get results.
Second little tip, keep a Vicks nasal inhaler in your gym bag…
And of course, music!
Why do gyms pump out music?? Because it helps with training. The trick is to get the right genre for what you’re doing. Pop/dance is great for aerobic work, even some decent drum and bass can get you through a lifting session! Rock music is also one of the top genres for training, even people that don’t normally like it start to bop thier heads during sets or when having some well needed recovery!!
Classical…..? Let me know…
Tip, play a little game of “what are you listening to ?” Lets face it, so many people wear headphones or earbuds now you could go to the gym and just play this game whilst on a treadmill!
Fun but a shame,as I believe saying hello to people with the same mind set as yourself is a great way to make new friends.
Try one or all of them and see what works for you. You could always have a trainer with you to help….Simply Fitt