5 Tips For Building Your Body Outside the Gym
Hitting the gym on a regular basis is a great way to build muscle and stay in shape.
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With that said, if you are relying solely on your gym sessions to achieve your perfect body goals, you will be missing some critical elements. Muscle growth and overall fitness have a lot more to do with holistic living than just pumping iron.
You may be surprised to learn that the things you do outside the gym are as important as those you do inside the gym when it comes to building muscle, overall fitness, and optimal wellness. If you are hitting the weights on a consistent basis and wondering why your goals feel difficult to achieve, read on for tips on building muscle outside the gym.
1) Incorporate Fresh Air
We all know that gym smell. It invokes both inspiration to push yourself in addition to a bit of disgust at the combination of sweat and grime in your midst. Instead of heading to the gym tomorrow, how about head to your local park. Purchasing a kettleball for your home workouts is a simple and effective tool to get a full body workout.
The kettleball has gained in popularity among the weight fitness crowd, because it combines strength and cardio training. They range in weight from 4kg to 40kg, so be sure to ask a specialist what weight you should start out with, and enjoy the benefits some nature and fresh air bring to your workout!
2) Meditation
Yes, you read it right. Meditation is not only a tool for the mind, it has tremendous benefits for the body. Regular meditation can increase and accelerate muscle growth by improving sleep, decreasing stress, increasing the immune system and improve memory and creativity. Meditation pairs perfectly with that park workout we just mentioned. So, after hitting it hard with the kettleball, sit down, take a deep breath, and find a meditation style that works for you.
3) Get Some Sleep
Remember when you were a kid and your mum would say things like “you have to eat your greens and go to sleep in order to build those superhero muscles”. Well, she was right. If you are not sleeping enough, or not sleeping well, your muscles will not have time to repair and grow. It’s simple, you sleep, your muscles grow. Quality sleep allows for the body to enter REM sleep cycles where you optimise the release of testosterone and muscles can fully sleep. Ideal amount of nightly sleep is 7-8 hours.
4) Eat Your Greens
If you celebrate a great workout with a cheeseburger and a cold beer, you may have a hard time achieving your fitness goals. Whether you are trying to bulk up or slim down, nutrition and diet are as important as your regular exercise. Make smart choices all day long, not just at one meal. Incorporate high quality carbs, lean protein, and fresh fruits and vegetables consistently into your daily routine and watch your body and mind respond very favourably.
5) Don’t Over Think It
One way to sabotage your fitness goals it to obsess over them.
Exercise, nutrition, fitness and goals need to remain fun and achievable in order to be realised. Exercise and goal setting should be something you enjoy, not something that adds stress and negative self talk. The more positive you are about your progress, the faster it will happen. So, if you have a day where the weights feel impossible to lift or the kilometres too far to run, don’t stress. Tomorrow is a new day, and your body is telling you to rest. Enjoy the ride, a perfect body often comes alongside a well-trained mind.
Goal setting is an important aspect in all areas of life. Personal, professional and fitness goals are all ways to keep the momentum ticking along to live an optimal life. If hitting the gym has been your main method to weight training, and you are feeling a bit burnt out, it’s time to think outside the box. Hopefully, these 5 tips give you some inspiration to be creative with how you train your body and mind, and most of all, how to always have fun doing it.