Considering a new workout routine? A new yoga practice? Determined to use your recumbent bike for something other than hanging your clothes? Whatever the case, it never hurts to reconsider whether your fitness program is best suited for you, given the many options all claiming to being your surest route to better health.
To make things easier, we tapped eight personal trainers for their best bits of wisdom on how to level up your workout.
Focus on mobility first
One piece of fitness-related advice that has changed the life of Ackeem Emmons, coach at Tonal, an interactive home gym system, is the power of mobility. For years, the New York City-based personal trainer focused solely on strength and speed—his only metrics of success. “It was not until I matured, started training others, and kept getting injured that I learned to appreciate mobility,” he says. “When I started to incorporate mobility, stretching, and improving my flexibility, I saw major improvements in how I felt, coached, and looked.”
These days, Emmons’ dynamic pre- and post-workout routine includes moves like the “World’s Greatest Stretch,” squat to stand, and scorpion stretch, which have boosted his well-being and fitness. “The obstacle to our strength goals,” he says, “[is] the lack of mobility and body awareness.”
Ignore your fitness tracker
This tip comes from Laura Thomas, a holistic movement coach in Cleveland. “Sometimes, we must not listen to our fitness trackers and do what feels good right now,” she says. “Even if your Fitbit barks at you to do more cardio, you know your body better than anyone else.”
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Check in with yourself before a workout about your stress levels, how you slept, and what you ate that day. “Should you push through a challenging workout when you feel fatigued? Most likely not,” Thomas says. Instead, consider if mobility work or gentle yoga will fill your cup that day.
Stay open-minded to new research and workout approaches
Kaleigh Ray, an exercise physiologist and staff writer for Treadmill Review Guru in St. George, Utah, warns clients not to get trapped in fitness fads and to be open to new research. For instance, she was “really into” minimalist and barefoot shoes for a long time, but upon reading research on running-shoe construction, she came to believe her preconceptions were false. “I still think barefoot shoes and minimalist shoes are great, but I’m also open to the benefits of maximalist shoes,” she says.
To that point, Ray strongly recommends that you incorporate multiple training techniques into your routine. “Believing one method is beneficial doesn’t mean you have to exclude all others forever. What serves you at one point in your fitness journey may not be what you need later,” she says. “Often, clinging to one fitness principle forces you to ignore an entire body of research.”
Start with just five minutes
“When the weather is awful, my schedule feels packed, or my motivation is low, my go-to advice is: commit to just five minutes of movement,” says Sarah Pelc Graca, owner and head coach at Strong with Sarah Weight Loss Coaching in Novi, Mich. “Whether it’s a quick warm-up stretching session, a walk around the house, or five minutes of lifting weights, the key is starting small. “ More often than not, she finds five minutes turn into 15 minutes, 20 minutes, or even a full workout.
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Pelc Graca learned this lesson a few years ago as a new mom juggling her business and caring for her newborn, when the idea of squeezing in a workout felt impossible. “I quickly realized the hardest part was getting started,” she says. “Once I began moving, I wanted to keep going because it felt so good.” She still uses this mindset, whether it’s a quick few minutes of jumping rope or squeezing in body-weight squats while waiting for her coffee to brew.
Remember: There is no finish line when it comes to your health and fitness
This motto comes courtesy of personal trainer Tami Smith, owner of Fit Healthy Macros in St. Augustine, Fla. “Your journey is ongoing: there’s no rush, no end date, just a continued commitment to show up in the best way you can daily,” Smith says.
Too often, she adds, we get caught up in wanting to achieve a certain goal, like losing an amount of weight by a specific date. . Rather, though, embrace the idea that these efforts will continue for the rest of your life, even though there will be ebbs and flows. This, Smith says, “leads to better adherence, less stress, and improved results.”
Befriend heavy weights
This advice applies especially to women, who often shy away from greater weight loads at the gym or home, says Michelle Porter, a personal trainer and yoga instructor in Hoboken, N.J. “Lift heavy, and don’t stress about your heart rate or calorie burn while strength training,” she says. “Focus on form, challenge your muscles, and the results will come.”
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Porter first became acquainted with this “lift heavy” principle in 2011 at a CrossFit class. “As a personal trainer at the time, barbell strength training and Olympic-style lifting were entirely new to me,” she says. “Like many women, I worried that lifting heavy weights would make me ‘bulky.’ But it didn’t — it helped me lean out and define my muscles.”
Stop comparing yourself
Bill Camarda, a personal trainer and owner of Limitless Fitness in Epping, N.H., never forgets the humbling moment of being told that somewhere in the world, there’s always going to be someone doing better than he is in the gym. “There’s always someone lifting more weight. There’s always going to be someone in better shape. There’s always someone who can run faster, jump higher, do more push-ups,” he says. “When someone pointed this out to me, it helped me to realize that the only person I needed to compare myself to was myself.”
Recognizing this not only helped Camarda check his ego at the gym door, but also do what was best for his body rather than trying to keep up with others.
Pick the right music
Or podcast, or audiobook. Emily Abbate, a personal trainer in New York City and host of the wellness podcast Hurdle, is all about finding “the right soundtrack for your sweat,” as she puts it.
Research shows that upbeat music or other audio fare can help you work both harder and for longer. “So when your motivation may be lacking, seek out something sweet for your headphones that inspires you to get up and out,” she says. “You may be surprised at what happens next.”
