3 Tips to Slim down for Summer
Summer is coming closer, the weeks and months are melting away and before we know it some of us will be jetting off somewhere sunny or travelling down to the coast if our tempremental British weather permits. This means more of us will be battling the bulge and stripping away at that undesired bodyfat. If you’re one of the year-round gym junkies and calorie counters then you are well on your way and can keep soldiering on, but if you don’t fit that bill, don’t worry, here are three tips to get you back on track!
1. Make a schedule and stick to it
If you fail to prepare then you prepare to fail. Make sure you have a solid training plan set out, something written down that you can follow and stick to, rather than swinging by the gym when you feel like and not having an aim. This way you know what you’re doing before you get to the gym and you can just focus on giving it your all and beating what you did last time! This goes for diet too, make sure you know what you’re going to be eating day-to-day ahead of time. The downfall of most diets is lack of structure, while many people have good intentions of eating healthy, if they don’t prepare and plan meals in advance, they fall victim to grabbing a pre-made sandwhich, salad or fast food as desperation. Plan, execute and repeat, it will make your life less stressful and help your progress sky-rocket.
2. Track progress
Following on from the first tip is tracking your training progress. It’s all well and good having that perfect gym plan but if you don’t know what you did last week in terms of reps/sets/weights, then how are you going to beat it and move forward? Time and time again we see people in the gym with the same weights spinning their wheels through the same workout every week with no sign of progress, while it may be better than nothing, use that hour that you’re in the gym to the best possible advantage, put everything you have in to it and fall in love with the progress you’re making. So my main tip is to get a logbook, this can be a notebook or on your phone/tablet. Just record what you managed to get in terms of reps, sets and weights for each exercise in a workout, and next time you come to do that workout, try and beat one of those variables, this way you can be SURE you are moving forward!
3. Be Balanced
Some people fall in to the trap of going all-out straight out of the gate and ultimately buckle and fail before reaching their goal and reversing all their hard work. Give yourself some balance, don’t train every single day, your body needs a rest so take at least 2 rest days a week, your body will thank you. On the over side of the coin, don’t hammer yourself in to the ground with a super restrictive diet. Sure, it’s going to be tough and you’re going to have to restrict your food intake and food choices somewhat, that’s how this works, but at the same time if you go too crazy and restrict too much, your body will stop responding and halt your weight loss. Take a day a week to have a cheat meal, a meal of whatever you like, get your cravings out of the way and set your self up for the next week of dieting fully satisfied and with fuel in the tank. This will also tell your body that you’re not starving it and it can continue to lose fat.
There you have it, those are my top three tips to slim down for this summer. If you need any help putting a program together, visit one of our trainers at Racquets and we can help you out. Good Luck!
