Warm weather brings more outdoor activities and many of you reading this will be signing up for some of them yourself. I’m talking marathons, swimming, baseball, soccer, 5k’s, Tri’s, Ironman’s, Spartans, Mud Runs, the list goes on and on. It's one of my favorite times of year because there are so many outdoor activities to choose from. Everything is more fun outside, whether you're swimming, running or cycling.
Let’s be real, dreaming and setting goals are both easy to do. What’s difficult is converting those goals into a reality.
The thing about fitness is, you have to want it for yourself. Finding the motivation to get back to the gym and get healthy must come from within, says Jonathan Leary, founder of Remedy Place, a social wellness club. And it’s not just about finding the motivation, but about having the right kind of motivation to get in shape. Forget external motivators like looking nice in an outfit and dig a little deeper, Leary says.
For most people, their pre-workout routine goes something like this: find a time they're going to work out, take some sort of pre-workout powder 30 minutes before, and then workout. That’s about all of the planned preparation they invest into “improving” their workouts to see better results.
Whether you’re a seasoned gym-goer or you’re new to fitness, here are 4 workout tips to take your fitness to the next level this Summer!
Visit the Farmer’s Market
Seasonal fruits are just one of the many perks of summer. Visit your local farmer’s market to stock up on seasonal produce. It tastes absolutely amazing, and it has plenty of nutrients that are beneficial for modern athletes. Here are some of my favorites: Blueberries contain inflammation-fighting antioxidants. Watermelon is a great source of water and potassium, an important electrolyte for hydration. Peaches are also a good source of potassium. Dark cherries are rich in antioxidants!
Fresh vegetables are another food that can be enjoyed. For example try, beets, bell peppers, cucumbers, eggplant, green beans, snap peas, tomatoes, summer squash, and zucchini. Vegetables contain many nutrients such as vitamin A and C, dietary fiber, and potassium. There are several health benefits to eating vegetables as part of your overall diet, including lowering your risk of heart disease.
Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate
When we sweat in the gym or outside we lose water, yes, but also electrolytes. We lose sodium, potassium and magnesium. It is extremely important that as we hydrate, we make sure it is with a balance of electrolytes as well. If we sweat and work hard, then simply replace our sweat with plain water then we are simply diluting our body. This is far from beneficial and can even become dangerous (look up hyponatremia). In order for us to optimize the way our muscles forcefully contract and even relax we must keep our electrolyte levels topped off. Considering the effects that the sun and warmer temperatures can have on your body and your performance, and to be sure to get appropriate hydration are a must.
Not only that, but in order for us to continue to pump oxygen-rich blood through our muscles at an efficient rate we must prioritize our hydration with these electrolytes, specifically sodium, so that our blood doesn’t become more viscous or thicker. The thicker our blood becomes the harder it is to pump through our bodies and because that is what delivers oxygen to our muscles, we are in trouble especially when it comes to a drop in our performance.
Don’t change everything at once
When getting back into a fitness routine, you may be tempted to overhaul your eating habits, too. Oftentimes, people tend to fixate on making too many changes at once. Instead, focus on one thing at a time, focus on just trying to re-establish an activity habit. The reason why I tell people to focus on how they feel is that too often people are focused on the wrong metric. Having a plan of action before you step foot in the gym can help you avoid wandering aimlessly around while you decide what to do next. This indecisiveness not only adds time to your workout, it also makes it less efficient, since you’re letting your heart rate drop.
Sleep Tight
Quality shut-eye is vital to getting the most out of your time spent in the gym. And that goes for every night of the week. According to one 2015 Sports Medicine review, poor sleep hinders not only your exercise performance (and the number of calories you burn), but also your body’s ability to come back stronger after every workout. “Sleep drives the hormonal shifts that promote the body’s recovery to exercise,” says Carlson-Phillips. Without appropriate sleep, symptoms of over-training, including fitness plateaus, set in. Aim for seven to nine hours of sleep every single night.
Know that as the weather gets warmer it is a time you’ll sweat more inside and outside and plan to have a water bottle with you, almost at all times. But we suggest not just having plain water in it all day. Prior to and during training look for products like Hydra-Guard that will allow you to optimize your training and your hydration. This delicious drink has more electrolytes than Gatorade and a much lower ingredient list.
Paul Millsap, 4x NBA All-Star and Hydra-Guard Partner has always made his nutrition and health a priority, which reflects his elite performance and extremely successful career in the NBA. Paul’s ability to maintain playing at the highest level has been nothing short of amazing. It's a professional career that every athlete strives for.
The key for longevity in any athlete’s career is to take care of their bodies first and that's something that Paul has obviously done very well. Hydra-Guard Sports Drink caught Paul’s attention in early 2019, when he officially partnered with them in efforts to bring the brands healthy benefits more readily available to more households across the country.
"Being a professional athlete naturally encourages me and my family to live a healthy lifestyle. Hydra-Guard Sports Drink raises the bar to unprecedented heights with its beverage innovation. It’s packed with electrolytes, and being an all natural sports drink with low sugars is a game changer, this product is changing the industry," says Paul.
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