Don’t Waste Your Workout

Written by Andrew Wallen, MS, CSCS, NASM-CPT

Too many times I see people who put themselves through extremely hard workouts and yet still find a way to waste it with their lifestyles. They think that by working out hard, this gives them a justification for eating and drinking whatever they want throughout the rest of the day and the days that follow until the next workout.

The crazy aspect is they expect to see results at the same time. Now this philosophy may work for a small percentage of people in this world that are very lean and that can pretty much eat whatever they want (who are probably not reading this article), but for the majority of people that continually battle with their jeans from 5 years ago, this is not the thought process that needs to occur in order to see results from their workouts.

The alternative solution (if this person is you) is to think ‘Don’t waste your workout’! Whether your goal is weight-loss, rehabilitation, or sports performance, your lifestyle outside the gym is just as (if not maybe even more) important than the workout itself. The average fitness enthusiast spends about 1 hour 3 times per week working towards his or her goal by performing cardio-respiratory training, strength training, or a combination of both each week. This means that out of a possible 168 hours in a week, a workout totaling 3 hours is less than 2% of the total hours available for that week.

I’m not the smartest person in the world but I know I wouldn’t expect to see any results doing something only 2% of the time. Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t expect clients to have the ability to commit more than 3 hours per week to their workouts but what I do expect is for individuals to make the most out of those workouts and don’t be counter-productive with the lifestyle outside the gym (see my next article entitled The Performance Lifestyle Model.

‘Don’t waste your workout’ is the quickest but most precise way for me to get my clients to understand that it’s not only the workout that matters but what they do after that might make or break their results. When I say ‘Don’t waste your workout’, I mean the following:

* Following properly advised nutritional guidelines
* Getting the proper amount of sleep to aid in recovery
* Limiting the amount of empty calories (pop, alcohol, sports drinks)
* Being more active in your daily life (sitting less and being more upright)

Just following these tips will definitely help aid in faster and more desirable results. I know these may be elementary to most of us but just seeing them written down sometimes helps one to focus better. Now go kill yourself in your respective workout but keep in mind ‘Don’t waste your workout’ to see those results that you most definitely deserve.

*Andrew Wallen is the president/CEO of Integrated Movement. He has a Master’s Degree in Exercise Science while holding numerous professional certifications. Integrated Movement is a personal training and sports performance training studio located in Valparaiso, IN. Integrated Movement strives to achieve success through science. Here’s a link to another great article by Andrew (Dude, Where’s My Core?) where he says… “Your performance lifestyle (nutrition, sleep, workouts & supplementation) plays the most important role in getting those wash-board abs.”

Filed Under: Activate and Strengthen • News • Performance Tips

Tags: Performance Lifestyle, your lifestyle