There are many things you need to consider when starting any kind of training. Often it can be the simple things that get overlooked or forgotten about. In the following article we look at some common dos and don’ts that can really help make a difference to your training routine whatever that may be.
Basic Training Dos
Do
1. Eat
2. Sleep
3. Rest
Don’t
1. Get drunk
2. Smoke
3. Skip the basics
Eat
Not simply your breakfast, lunch, dinner and between meals snacks made up of fruit, veg, low glycemic carbs and of course protein – but also your post workout meal.
Your post workout meal stops your body breaking down muscle into amino acids to use the amino acids to make glycogen to feed the energy needs of the body. If you eat, the body will use the glucose from the carbs you ingest to make the necessary glycogen, thus leaving the muscles intact.
Your post workout meal/snack therefore must contain both carbs and protein – not just protein as we all seem to think. Many supplements provide a post workout drink containing both carbs and proteins (Maximuscle Promax, PhD Synergy etc) but actually a decent meal or simply a protein shake and a banana will suffice.
Sleep
For best results from a training programme your sleep pattern is crucial. This is true whether you are training for the marathon or just to increase muscle size. Training when tired often leads to training at a far lower intensity despite it feeling as high as normal. This leads to a false sense of gain and does not help goals become a reality. In fact, training on insufficient sleep is much more likely to end in injury or feelings of overtraining.
Try to go to bed and wake up at set times, as close as possible to eachother, 7 days a week. This will ensure sleep cycles become regular.
Furthermore, think about it: human beings are the only animal to be “woken”, all other animals wake naturally. Try to get into a rhythm where you wake before your alarm naturally because you have had enough sleep from going to bed early enough. We all know how bad we feel when we have gone to bed late and struggle to get out of bed when the alarm goes off. Believe it or not, training under these circumstances is less than ideal!
Rest
Rest is just as important as sleep. Inadequate rest will shortly lead to injury and overtraining; forcing the body to rest. Ensure you have at least 1 rest day a week. Furthermore try to cycle intensity days, hard one day, easy the next.
Listen to your body, if you feel tired perhaps today should be a rest day, then attack the training again the next day. However, don’t fall into the trap of using “feeling” tired as an excuse to skip sessions. Be honest and realistic and that is the key to reaching goals.
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