A workout that boosts one persons endorphin levels might not be quite so effective for you – it might be too hard, or not hard enough, it might not work on the things important to you or it might not fit with your schedule. So here are a few tips on building your own workout and some key tips to get the most out of it (it isn’t all to do with training harder here):
- Pick your goal (this could be a stronger back, a better chest or simply feeling better).
- Decide when you are going to do your training (morning can be a great time as you start your day with a positive).
- Decide how long you have (this will relate to the intensity you exercise at, if you only have half an hour, you may have to get your heart rate up a little bit quicker)
- Pick a warm-up (keep this simple, it should just gently increase your heart rate).
- Heart rate raiser (this is the part that stimulates the release of endorphins – remember if its low intensity simply do it for longer, moderate intensity you should get what you need in 30 minutes, and high intensity perhaps 15-20 minutes).
- Choose some resistance exercises (this should relate to your goal, for example if it is building your chest, a variety of press ups would be a great option here).
- Do a cooldown (focus on some stretches and return the heart rate back to normal).
- Eat something healthy (this should contain carbohydrate to replenish glycogen stores in your muscles and protein to proved amino acids to start the recovery process).
- After the session, write down what you are going to do the next day (make it progressive so you are doing a little bit more of something each time).
- Share your achievement with someone (there is a social aspect to endorphin release, so share what you’ve done with someone positive in your life)
- Encourage a friend to join you in your plans (you are certainly not alone, and involving a friend or loved one allows you to share your experiences)
The key to this is not simply having an endorphin boost from increasing your heart rate, although this will work, there is more to it than that – training like this, you will increase the feel good factor from:
- Having a plan
- Sticking to the plan on a regular basis
- Feeling better from taking control
- Seeing results as time goes on
- Having common goals
If you need any help, please don’t hesitate to contact us.