We all want to get the most out of the time we spend working out. Right? We make the effort to workout, which isn’t always easy, so why not get the most out it.
Whether you’re just beginning your fitness journey or a focus on fitness is already a lifestyle, these tips will help you make the most of your time and get the most out of your workout.
17 Tips to Get the Most Out of Your Workouts
- Go at your own pace.
- Mix up your routine.
- Don’t wait for an occasion to start working out.
- Fuel pre-workout and recover post-workout with whole foods.
- Focus on how you want to feel rather than how you want to look.
- Hydrate before, during and after your workout.
- Track your progress.
- Don’t skip the warm up or cool down.
- Don’t skip stretching.
- Don’t wait too long to eat after your workout.
- Shower and put on clean clothes as soon as possible.
- Get enough sleep.
- Include a combination of strength training, cardio, yoga and at least 1 rest day, maybe 2, for your weekly workouts.
- Do what you love.
- Listen to your body.
- Plan your workouts for the week.
- Keep your expectations realistic.
Time to workout.
SUPPLEMENT YOUR WORKOUTS WITH THIS WORKOUT 2 DAYS A WEEK TO BUILD A STRONG CORE.
Right click the image above to save to your mobile device or download the workout to print.
Equipment needed:
- mat
- timer
REMEMBER:
- Brace your core.
- Use proper body alignment and good form.
- Reps and rest periods should be based on your fitness level.
- Modify as needed to meet your fitness level by increasing/decreasing reps, weight and sets.
- Gradually increase intensity based on your progress.
I am a certified personal trainer, but this workout was not created for your specific fitness level and needs. Make modifications as needed. Intensity and rest periods should be based on your individual fitness level. See your physician before beginning any exercise program. This web site is not intended as a substitute for the medical advice and supervision of your personal physician. Any application of this or any other exercise routine set forth in this program is at the viewer’s discretion and sole risk.
Crunches (1) Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor about hip width apart. (2) Place your hands behind your head being careful not to pull on your head and neck. Keep your elbows open and out to the side. Keep your chin up and off your chest. (2) Take a deep breath, then exhale curling up until your shoulder blades lift off the floor. (3) Hold for a moment at the top of the movement, fully exhale for complete contraction of the abs, then slowly lower yourself back to start position. Targets: rectus abdominis
V-Ups (1) Lie face up on the floor with your arms extended straight above your head in line with your body and your legs straight. (2) Keeping your arms and legs straight, in one movement, simultaneously lift your torso and legs as if your trying to touch your toes to form a “V” with your torso and your legs. Your head should stay in line with your body, being careful not to crane it forward. (3) With control, lower your torso, arms and legs back down to start position. Targets: upper abdominals
Scissor Crunches (1) Lie face up on the ground and extend right leg up toes pointed toward the ceiling with straight left leg hovering a few inches above ground. Place your hands behind your head for support (avoid pulling on your head and neck) and keep your elbows wide. (2) Exhale and simultaneously scissor your legs by lowering your right leg and raising your left leg as you lift your right shoulder toward the left leg. Keep you abs pulled in tight throughout the entire movement. (3) Repeat with opposite leg and shoulder alternating back and forth for the prescribed number of reps. One rotation to the left and one rotation to the right is one rep. Targets: external obliques
Reverse Crunch (1) Lie face up on the floor with your hands down by your side palms facing down and your feet together. Bend your hips and knees 90 degrees. (2) Raise your hips off the floor and crunch inward. Your knees should move toward your chest and your hips and lower back should raise up off the floor. (3) Slowly lower your legs until your heels nearly touch the floor. Don’t change the bend in your knees from start to finish. Repeat the prescribed number of reps. Targets: hip flexors, external obliques
Russian Twists (1) Lie on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor. (2) Now sit about half way up keeping your chest and shoulders back being careful not to round your back. (3) Holding your hands together in front of your body, chin up and eyes looking forward, take a deep breath and exhale twisting your torso as far to the right as you can without changing the angle of your torso. (4) Now exhale and rotate your torso back to the starting position. Twisting your torso to the left and right is 1 repetition. Targets: rectus abdominis, internal and external oblique and transverse abs
Cross Body Mountain Climbers (1) Start in a push up position with your arms completely straight and your hands directly under your shoulders. (2) Raise your right knee toward your left elbow, lower, and then raise your left knee toward your right elbow. (3) Repeat alternating back and forth for the prescribed number of reps. Knee to elbow is one rep. Targets: cardiorespiratory system, chest, shoulders, lower abs, traverse abs
Plank (1) Start in a push-up position except keep your hands directly under your shoulders instead of outside of your chest. (2) Legs are straight out behind you with feet together. (3) You are balancing on your palms and the balls of your feet. Hold this position. Targets: rectus abdominis, lower back, chest, shoulders
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While we know nutrition plays a huge role in fitness and overall healthy living, Jen and I would like ITBF to focus totally on the fitness aspect of healthy living. We’d like this to be a go-to resource for workouts and fitness information, motivation and support. If you have a delicious recipe to share (and we know many of you do), come back on Friday and share it with friends at Living a Life of Fitness Health & Happiness.
Be sure to visit Jen to see her workout for the day! And don’t forget that you can tag us and use hashtag #itbf, on Instagram, if you do one of the workouts this week!
Thank you for being a part of this community!
Looking for more workouts for the week? Check out the HIIT, Circuits and Ab workouts here!
Sharing with friends at Fruition Fitness.
How was your weekend? Did you experience snowpocalypse? How do you maximize the time you spend working out?
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These are some great tips!
I love your tips Jill! Some I hadn’t thought of before! I SO with I could do this core workout. Having my son left me with a bad case of diastasis recti so I try to really limit the amount of ab work I do. It’s SO not fun!! ;(
Great tips! I’ll be sure to keep them in mind when I train for the Peachtree Road Race.
Thanks for all the tips + detail explanations! I will totally follow them and rock my exercises and get fit | http://apartment149.com
How inspiring I love this and need to try some of these. I do a lot of walking but now its time to do some weights and real serious cardio.
Tracking your progress is SO IMPORTANT! I find that if I don’t, I never feel like I’m getting anywhere. Also, I love your tip about setting realistic expectations. When I do that, I’m never disappointed in myself! 🙂 . . . And I must try this ab workout. Looks intense but worth it.
These are great tips, and the best thing is you always give reminder to do the work out based on our own pace. allow our body to do what its best on this work out!
Awesome tips, Jill! Thanks for sharing and linking up! 🙂
Great tips! This year I’m really working on cultivating my health and working out is a big part of that! I’m hoping to get 350 miles in throughout the year and being more consistent with my work outs! I’ll add this ab one in- looks great!
Just went through the circuit! I really liked it. The cross body mountain climbers were anew one to me. Thanks! This will become part of my routine 🙂
I love that you mentioned the cool down and warm up. I have so many girls walk in late to camp and they miss the warm up and then ask me after why their knees hurt or why the workout was so difficult. And fueling for workouts with whole foods instead of that sugary crap they sell. YESS
So funny , as I was reading this great post My oldest daughter was just in from the gym as was doing burpees! These are as always, great tips. I love reading your helpful posts. Yu keep me on the fitness straight and arrow!
These are wonderful tips! Tracking my progress via a fitness device and listening to music always helps me.
These are excellent tips. Drinking lots of water is a must.
Hydrate and do what you love – those are my favorites I think! I tend to guzzle water when I am working out. And I can’t stick with anything if I don’t love it.
Love to hate those V Ups and Russian Twists ;D
I’ve got #10 down, haha! I struggle with mixing it up because I fear I won’t see the results that I want. Thanks for this list. I should pin it!
These are great tips. I especially love ‘Go at your own pace’ because it can be so difficult to see others and not compare your workouts. Thanks for your post!
Man, your workouts are awesome. Great tips! What I need is just to do it!
These are great tips, and that workout looks awesome, Jill!
I definitely think it’s important to pick workouts you enjoy in order to keep up with them. Thank you for including the descriptions of each exercise–I wasn’t familiar with some of the names right off!
such great tips. I especially love the “do what you love to do” makes all the difference.
You go chica! Awesome tips and an awesome workout!!!
I’ve been looking for a new ab workout so I’ll have to try this out tomorrow. Thanks for sharing!
I love all of these tips and must admit I always used to get hung up on the ‘waiting until a special occasion’ . . . guess what? I finally realized I AM the special occasion and I was worth doing it now! 😉
I LOVE and completely agree with all of these tips! Especially when you talk about having a balance of cardio, strength and yoga/flexibility. It is so important!
This is perfect! I need to add more core exercises to my day! I pretty much just do planks and crunches.
Great tips, as always!
I’m not so good about stretching either, but I do suffer for it when I neglect it.
What a great list, Jill! People often forget to track their progress. What I love about tracking it is that, while you may only see very small changes (if any) from one day to the next, it’s always fun to see how much you might improve over time.
I love all of these tips! There are a few things I need to make sure to implement after my nightly workouts! It is so easy to get lazy!
These are all great tips! And that ab workout looks killer! In a good way. I’m totally pinning this 🙂
All great fitness tips. Its so important to focus on your own workout, not one that is designed for somebody else.
Great tips! Although I must admit the post-run coffee competes with the post-run shower in winter! 😉
My core is aching just reading that workout! Your tips are so great. It’s so important to find something you love and go at your own pace.
Tracking is key for me to really make the most of my workouts and make sure I’m progressing. Great tips, as always 🙂
I am definitely going to try your ab routine! I love finding free workouts online. I will never pay for a gym as long as there is pavement and free resources online. 🙂 These are really great tips!
What great inspirational tips. I’m going to the gym today so I will definitely keep these in mind. I love your little workouts as well. I will be for sure trying those out.
Fantastic advice as always. I had my physio appointment today and they are asking me to do Pilates have you got any tips on what to wear and how to prepare for the class?
What a great post. Hydration is so important. I keep telling my teen she needs to drink more water. Does she listen?
Going at your own pace is so important! You’re not going to be able to do everything at first, and it will keep you from being discouraged!
I love how holistic and intuitive your tips for making the most of workouts are! And 12 minutes is so easy to squeeze in for a core routine, no matter how busy our days are.
Great tips! I need to work harder on the core–I’ve got some fitness goals I want to tackle later this year and they require lots of core!
Good tips as always! Love the ab routine Russian twists are one of my faves.
I’d like to think I’m pretty good at most of these tips you gave us, but man do I totally stink at stretching after wards and immediatly taking a shower. I always get home and start to do work, or cook or anything besides clean clothes. Heaven only knows why because I feel great afterwards but I do like to put it off!
Excellent tips! I like the core workout too.
Great tips – I always forget to eat or shower right after as I seem to get sucked into other things I need to get done.
Russian twists! I haven’t done them in awhile. I hated doing them and would rather work my core in any other way. Which I know means they’re the very exercise I should be doing, hahaha
Great tips Jill! I do Pilates. It’s the best core workout I’ve ever found.
Such great tips Jill and a good looking core workout!
Great tips Jill! Thanks for postoing!!
This is great! I love how accessible you make fitness for someone who is just learning to make it part of their lifestyle!
I needed this today! I made the decision a few weeks ago to become healthier but struggle to find time for a good workout each day.
Great tips, i really need to start using them.
I need to start on some more ab exercises! Thanks for these tips!
Oh man, there’s a reason I have such a weak core! I don’t want to do any of those things. I know I should, but I just don’t get a lot of core work in.
I need to do this ab workout…V ups are so hard for me now! Great tips on making the most of your workouts – I think for me, it’s just finding that time to get it done with no excuses!
I really need to start doing mine! Your points are so true, I should really follow them to get a better result
Great tips Jill and awesome ab workout going to try it later.
Im terrible at skipping stretching.
I think I was better when I was a trainer and convinced I was a role model 🙂
NOW? It’s the first thing to go and the WORST THING TO GO.