1. Climb Two Steps at a Time
Whether on the stepmill at the gym or scaling the floors in your office building, taking steps two at a time will provide greater muscular benefits and a greater overall caloric burn.
2. Map out your plate
Taking a moment to mentally separate your dinner plate into sections can help you visualize how acceptable serving sizes look. “Break” your plate in half, fill one of these sides with vegetables and whole grains. Split the other half into two once again; one of these sections will hold your lean protein serving while the other is the perfect size for a serving of healthy fats.
3. Add five minutes to your time
If you generally go for 30 minutes during your cardio workout, try boosting your time to 35, tacking on another five minutes every second workout until you reach 45 minutes. Increasing your workout time gradually will make the jump from a half hour to three-quarters of an hour seem like a breeze!
4. Try a new, exotic food each week
You don’t have to be making squid and lemongrass stir-fry for every meal, but taking your taste buds on a culinary adventure every now and again can help relieve the mediocrity of dieting.
5. Do an exercise – backward
We don’t mean that you should do an about-face when squatting or pressing. Instead, try focusing on the eccentric motion of each rep – basically, the portion of the exercise wherein your target muscle lengthens.
For example, as you are doing a biceps curl, slowly return the weight to the starting position, fighting against gravity, instead of letting your arms swing to the bottom. During a squat, use control and clench your glutes as you sink to the lowest part of the move.
Why? Your muscles are actually able to move more weight during the eccentric portion of a lift – up to 40 precent more, in fact – than during the concentric portion
After more great fitness tips, download our latest newsletter
