If you joined a gym, there are some effective ways to get the most out of each of your workouts.

Getting the most out of your gym workouts

You will want to be as productive as possible while at the gym to experience the best results, and following these tips can help you reach your fitness goals.

Warm up properly

You will want to warm up your muscles and joints properly before your workouts to get your body ready for more vigorous activities.

Muscle & Fitness suggests foam rolling, high-knee skips, scapular wall slides exercises. You can also try doing some static and dynamic stretches to warm up your muscles and joints.

Muscle & Fitness also recommends maintaining a proper diet and consuming the best pre workout nutrients 30-60 minutes before you workout.

Keep socializing to a minimum

Some small talk is fine, but you will want to stay focused on your exercises and minimize social interactions to get the most out of your time in the gym.

If you have a trainer, try to keep any conversations focused on exercising.

Save most of your socializing for the locker room or during a healthy post workout meal with your gym buddies.

Be sure to include weight training

Just doing cardio exercises can actually work against you.

Motto explains that your metabolism will eventually slow down if you just do cardio and will make it more difficult for you to lose weight.

Adding in some weight training will increase your metabolic rate and help you build muscle.

Use free weights

During your weight training sessions, you should use free weights more often than weight machines to get the best results.

Weight machines are useful for helping you establish correct form in the beginning stages, but they can actually hinder your workouts and lead to injuries if the settings on them are adjusted incorrectly.

Use the correct form

Maintaining the proper form throughout each exercise will help you strengthen your muscles more effectively and prevent injury.

Greatist gives the example of standing tall with your chest up and shoulders back and down when doing squats.

Avoid rolling your back when performing deadlifts.

Proper bench press form involves lining your eyes up with the bar and having your feet planted firmly on the ground.

Take advantage of fitness apps

There are many fitness apps that you can use with your mobile phone to make your workouts more productive.

Most of these apps let you track your workouts and monitor your progress.

You can also get exercise suggestions from these apps. Some of the best reviewed fitness apps include MyFitnessPal, Sworkit and GAIN Fitness.

Practice carbo-loading

Marathoners are known to increase their carbohydrate intake before their long runs, but carbo-loading can also be beneficial if you plan to do any intense workouts.

Carbohydrates will give you the fuel that your body needs to push through the tough physical challenges. Bread, pasta and oatmeal are some of the best carbo-rich foods.

Do full-body workouts for weight loss

Evox suggests doing full-body workouts instead of just concentrating on certain muscle groups if you want to shed extra pounds.

Maintaining high intensity is important throughout each exercise in order for you to get the results you want.

You should also consider switching up your routine to avoid exhausting certain muscle groups, which might lead to injuries.

Include interval training

Interval training involves doing high-intensity exercises with short breaks in between sets.

This can be a more effective way to reduce body fat and increase your cardiovascular fitness.

A great way to do interval training is to complete as many reps as possible within a 20-second period followed by 10 seconds of rest.

Repeat this process four times and rest for a full minute before completing three more rounds.

Getting the most out of your gym workouts is possible if you make the right preparations and exercise wisely.

The more productive your workouts are, the closer you will move toward your fitness goals each time you hit the gym.

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