5 Simple but Powerful Tips to Instantly Improve Your Workouts

Each of these takes little to no time to implement

I first stepped foot in a gym as a skinny fat teenager that knew nothing about anything when it came to fitness.

It has been a bit over 4 years now and apart from achieving a physique that I hadn’t even dared to imagine in my wildest dreams back then, I made a ton of mistakes and learned a ton more.

Moreover, along my journey, I picked up quite a few tidbits that have helped me tweak and drastically improve the quality of my workouts. I want to share 5 of these tidbits that can instantly improve your workouts.

Blast Some Heavy Metal

I legit cannot get through a workout without some good music blasting in my ears, most often heavy metal, rap, or EDM. Now, with my headphones out for repair, I hijacked the gym music system.

The thankful glares I receive show that the others enjoy the music as well. Music allows me to zone in, get myself psyched up, go harder on every set and overall enjoy the workout.

“With my headphones out for repair, I hijacked the gym music system.”

Well, it’s not only me as research shows that music indeed has the above effects. So trust me and well, the science — music can make all the difference.

So before you work out, grab a pair of headphones and a kickass playlist. My go-to playlist for my main strength sets is Doom Eternal OST and for my hypertrophy sets is Workout EDM 2021.

Now all you have to do is put them on, blast the music, and your workout.

Switch Your Focus from The Weight to The Muscle

I am one of the strongest in my gym and with everyone gawking, it’s tempting to ramp up the weight and ego-lift. It’s natural as we humans are wired to love the feeling of being and seeming to others as powerful.

And when the weight goes up, the form goes out of the window. Before you know it, you are yanking on some weights with god knows what muscles.

Now, there’s a simple choice to make — ego-lift and seem strong or lift with proper form and actually become strong. Even with good form, you might not “feel” the muscles working.

“When the weight goes up, the form goes out of the window.”

This is due to a lack of a mind-muscle connection which when developed can single-handedly improve your results. The first step to developing a mind-muscle connection is switching your focus from the weight to the muscle.

Be mindful of every rep. Mentally visualize the muscle working. Also, engaging your senses can help. So touch the muscle with your free hand. Stand in front of a mirror and see it working.

You will find an instant improvement but developing a full mind-muscle connection will take time so be patient.

“Be mindful of every rep. Mentally visualize the muscle working.”

Also, the duration can be different for different muscles — it took me 3 years to be able to feel my mid and lower traps while I could feel my biceps after the first few days itself.

Warm-Up Properly

Oh gosh! I can’t recall just how many times I bungled up my workouts by slacking on the warmup due to a “lack of time”. Not to mention injuries, the latest one being a wrist sprain.

The warmup slacked on is the workout slacked on. As simple as that. A good warmup can make all the difference. Even the research shows the same.

Slack on your warmup only if you want to set yourself up for injuries, get in a half-decent workout and go back home dejected.

“The warmup slacked on is the workout slacked on.”

The warmup is crucial to get blood flow into your muscles, grease your joints, raise your body temperature, and mentally prepare you for the workout.

It doesn’t have to be too long or fancy either. Just move your body for a bit, dynamically stretch, warm up the muscles necessary for the particular workout, and for the first exercise, pyramid your way up to the first working set.

To Illustrate

Take my pull workout. I do a few jumping jacks, spot jog for a few seconds, then do some dynamic back and bicep stretching, then hang from a bar and do some scapular retractions.

Then, if my first working set on the first exercise, say deadlift is 185 kgs for 6, I pyramid my way up — 60 kgs for 10 reps, 80 kgs for 6 reps, 100 kgs for 4 reps, 120 kgs for 3 reps, 140 kgs for 1 rep, 160 kgs for 1 rep and finally 180 kgs for 1 rep.

Sip on Water

“One more rep, easy boy, easy!”, he bellows as I take a deep breath and descend into the squat. As I try to rise out of the hole, I black out and if not for my spotter, I would have been crushed like paper under the weight.

Turns out, I was dehydrated. No, no parched throat or dry mouth but dehydration can often happen without you even knowing it. Ever since then, I always carry around and sip on a bottle of water.

“If not for my spotter, I would have been crushed like paper under the weight.”

And upping my water intake has made quite the difference. I feel more clear-headed, energetic, and less prone to feeling nauseatic which used to be a common occurrence during leg days.

After every set, sip on some water. You don’t have to down a gallon just take a few swigs.

Down a Pinch of Salt

Nowadays, my “pre-workout” is a cup of black coffee with a tiny spoon of salt. The coffee gives me energy while the salt gives me a mad pump. Yes, a “muscle-almost-bursting” kind of pump.

Salt and a pump? How are they even related? Well, the answer is sodium. And the pump isn’t the only benefit. To quote world-record powerlifter and bodybuilder Stan Efferding,

“Your blood thickens when it’s dehydrated, so not only does your blood carry less oxygen, you have a harder time filtering blood through your kidneys. Salt helps to increase blood volume so you have a crazier pump, better cardiovascular system, better stamina, better endurance, and better recovery from training.”

The research agrees as well — Spanish researchers found that triathletes that supplemented with saltwater finished a medium-distance race 26 minutes faster than a control group and a recent study of endurance runners found similar results.

So before you head to the gym, drop into the kitchen, scoop a tiny spoon of salt into your mouth, make a salty face, and down it with water.

And be sure to wear a loose-fitting shirt, you don’t want your shirt sleeves ripped apart, do you?

To Summarize

Here are 5 simple but powerful hacks that can instantly improve the quality of your workouts.

• Listen to good music while working out.
• Lift with good form. Don’t ego-lift. Focus on the muscle. Strive to develop a good mind-muscle connection.
• Do NOT slack on the warmup. Treat your warmup with the same respect as your workout.
• Stay hydrated. Make it a point to sip some water after every set.
• Consume a tiny spoon of salt before your workout to get a mind-boggling pump.

Thanks for reading! If you liked this, you might also like,

You just read another post from In Fitness And In Health: a health and fitness community dedicated to sharing knowledge, lessons, and suggestions to living happier, healthier lives.

If you’d like to join our newsletter and receive more stories like this one, tap here.