If we had all the time in the world, I’m sure we would spend it taking all of the necessary steps to look and feel good 25/8. Right? We all make the effort to work out, eat healthier, take care of our families, and fulfill all of our other obligations. I’m sure you know that it isn’t always easy, but we always seem to get it done. Now let’s take it a step further by making sure that we get the most out of our routines.

If you’re just beginning for health and fitness journey or you’ve been on this journey for quite some time and you’re looking to make it better, these tips will definitely help you get there and on your way so you can get the most out of your workouts.

Move To Your Own Beat and Go at your own pace.

You are in a race against yourself. Don’t try to keep up with the Joneses in this fitness world. Listen to Your Body. Move when it says to. Slow down it says to, and most importantly stop when it says to stop. Pushing your body to extreme and outrageous feats sometimes can be beneficial, but most times it will be detrimental to your fitness goals.

Change it up and #levelup your routine.

Doing the same thing over and over and over again will not continue to get results. You want to make sure that you are doing a variety of workouts. Try to do all types of workouts that you can. Include a combination of strength training, cardio, yoga and at least 1 rest day, maybe 2, for your weekly workouts. There are so many ways that you can continue to reach your fitness goals while also changing up how you reach your fitness goals. 

Don’t wait for an occasion to start working out.

We always say “one day, you’re going to get back in shape and you’re going to get fit.” The reality is that one day becomes no day. We have a tendency of putting off things that we don’t really want to do because we don’t find the joy in it. As a result, we end up not doing anything. Don’t wait for a special occasion to start working out. Once you make up your mind and you make up that decision that this is something that you want to achieve, put your head down, hit the ground running, and get it done.

[click_to_tweet tweet=”‘One day’ will become NO day. Start now. Don’t wait. -@daphnesnell” quote=”Tweet this: ‘One day’ will become NO day. Start now. Don’t wait. -@daphnesnell” theme=”style6″]

Focus on how you want to feel rather than how you want to look.

Yes, we all want our dream body that looks amazing, but what happens when you reach that goal and you get that body that you worked so hard for. Most times, once we reach our physical goal, a lot of times we have a tendency of slacking off, and not doing what we have to do to maintain that goal. I always advise my clients to focus on how you want to feel rather than how you want to look. This is something I’ve done myself that has helped me tremendously. Once I’ve noticed that my energy level started dropping and my body just started falling apart on me, I really stopped focusing on “decreasing my body fat” to a certain percentage, and really started focusing on how I wanted to feel. I can guarantee you that if you focus more on the well-being, the physical results will come. 

Hydrate before, during and after your workout.

I know you’ve heard it time and time again, but you’re going to continue hearing it, especially from me. Without water, your body will literally break down on you. Make sure that you hydrate before, during, and after your workout, but also most importantly, remain hydrated throughout the day.

[click_to_tweet tweet=”Guess what, I’m sure you haven’t drunk enough water. Consider this your reminder. -@daphnesnell” quote=”This is your reminder to drink some more water.” theme=”style3″](click to tweet: a reminder to drink your water. I’m sure you’re behind your intake goal)

Track your progress.

You don’t have to go crazy and track every single thing that you do. You do want to have a good idea of where you’re starting because it will help you realize and understand where you’re going. Your body is like a science experiment, so as you track your progress, you’ll know what works and what doesn’t, which will help you eliminate or add things that may help you reach your goal.

Don’t skip the warm up or cool down.

I know we want to jump straight into the fun stuff when we get to the gym, but the warm-up and cool-down is the most important part of the workout. Without warming up properly, you increase the risk of injuring yourself during your workout, and when you avoid or skip the cooldown because you’re in such a rush to leave the gym, you don’t give your body a chance to cool down off of the high-intensity activity that you just did. Your body deserves that warm up and cool down, so be sure to factor in some time to do it and do it properly.

Get enough sleep.

I don’t know about you guys, but I love to sleep. Sleeping, especially when you’re doing intense workouts to achieve your goals, is very imperative to reaching those goals. If you’re not getting enough sleep at night, you are robbing your body of the opportunity to recover from the intense workouts. So if there’s one thing that you could definitely make a priority when you are achieving your fitness goals, it is to make sure that you get enough sleep (seven hours minimum).

Do what you love.

If you don’t love what you’re doing, it will become very easy to get unmotivated. Try out different activities, and really do what it is that you love to do, while also maintaining variety so you don’t plateau. If you love to dance, Zumba, AFroBeats, HipHop ‘Lettos class is the way to go. If you love throwing around heavy weights at CrossFit, by all means, go ahead and do it, but don’t go into CrossFit if you know good and well that you don’t like that kind of environment. That is a sure fire way to a harder road to achieving your goal. 

Plan your workouts for the week = Prioritizing

With everything else that you do, when it comes to making priorities if you want to get the most out of your fitness goals, planning your workouts will show how you prioritize that importance. Once you schedule and block off a time to workout, you are doing that for yourself and it is a form of self-care. You love yourself and your body so much, that you prioritize this moment to make yourself better inside and out. Putting it on a calendar triggers something in your mind that says this is important to you, and you will make the time and do what you need to do to get it done.