5 Ways to Improve your Results

Now that we have officially started a new 4-week period of our Hi-5, there are a few things I would like to recommend to everybody to get the most out of the time.

1. A heart rate monitor - a heart rate monitor allows us to see what your maximal heart rate is during workouts. Knowing this number allows you to know how long to rest for as well as determine your heart rate recovery during intervals. The higher your heart rate, the more calories you're using!!

2. Eat Breakfast - Most of you have heard this and can truly testify to the truth of it. If you show up without eating breakfast, odds are you're going to be on your way home after class and swear you're never coming back. Breakfast can truly make the difference between a quality workout and miserable time. So be sure to eat something right early in the morning like a banana, or a small cup of yogurt, or a slice of toast with a little peanut butter on it.

3. Drink Water - As hard as you are going to be working over this next 4 weeks, your body will need extra water to replenish what leaves in sweat and also to improve the efficiency of muscle contractions. This will allow you to push yourself harder and get more out of your workouts (bigger bang for the buck!!)

4. Stretch - I am going to bet dollars-to-donuts you're going to be sore at some point during this 4-weeks. You might be reading this and saying, "i'm already sore!" But don't be afraid. Moderate soreness is a sign of progress. Intense soreness, not so much. A way to reduce soreness as well as improve recovery time is to stretch. Go through the warm-ups in the evening, during the day get up and put your joints through their end range of motion.

5. Don't be afraid to use some weight - part of losing fat and feeling better is gaining a little muscle. The "I don't want to bulk up" line is a complete joke and if anybody uses that line as an excuse, I will take it as meaning you are afraid of hard work. Here is why that is a lie. In order for you to build enough muscle for you to feel as if you are bulking up, you would have to eat an extra 500-600 calories a day and you'd have to workout 6-7 days a week for much longer than we workout.

These 5 things will put you on your way to improving the way you feel, look and move.