5 Ways to Push Yourself Harder

1. Have a goal
Whether you want to lose weight or get healthier, it's much easier to push yourself if you know why you're pushing yourself. Similar to a personal mission statement, having a physical goal will keep you on track and focused. Write it. Tell your friends and family. Give yourself responsibilities. It's important to have specific, specific, and achievable goals. Don't say, "I want to lose weight." Instead, state how much weight you want to lose and how quickly. This will allow you to measure your progress and keep you motivated for a while.

2. have a plan
Once you've chosen a goal, it's time to figure out how you'll achieve it. Use a fitness program or connect with a coach. Exercise should not be random; it has to be planned. Start with something at a level that is appropriate for your current physical condition. If you're just starting out, you could try a program like 21 Day Fix or PiYo. If you are at a higher fitness level, a program like CORE DE FORCE or INSANITY would be suitable. Just as you wouldn't run a marathon without training, you shouldn't jump out of your chair and start your session as intense as possible. "The hardest part of an exercise program is seeing through it, so you don't want to sabotage it by making it too overwhelming," says Steve Edwards, Beachbody's vice president of fitness and nutrition. difficult. “Basically, doing that is enough… in the first place.

3. Turn it on
Once you get used to the workout, it's time to start trying a little harder. But remember, you have to do it first. Depending on how fit you are at the start, the time you have to wait before increasing the intensity varies. “It takes your body three to 12 weeks to adapt to a new exercise,” says Edward. “The better you are, the quicker you will respond. With that in mind, you'll want to program a program that combines things over time.

Edwards explains that it's easy to get your muscles sore at the start of a program, but you always want to stock up on some. "You want a little pain, but not too much," he says. "As soon as you no longer have pain, increase the intensity."

There are several ways to enhance your workout. You can go faster, jump higher, or simply lift more weights. “Change the bands or add weights so you almost fail and sometimes fail near the end of each set,” says Edwards. "That extra intensity will force your body to adapt and redirect that improvement to the sky."

Another way to push yourself to the max is to incorporate multiple exercises into one day.

4. Focus on all the pieces

When youre pushing your body to its limits, you need to give it everything it needs. This includes rest and correct nutrition. For a shorter program, like 21 Day Fix, you dont really need to incorporate rest days into your workout schedule. However, longer programs, like P90X, TurboFire, and the BODathon training schedule, have recovery weeks built into them. Active recovery keeps your body moving, but it also helps your muscles cool down and re-energize.
In addition to taking care of your muscles, you also need to fuel them. Food fuels your body, but only clean foods give you the energy your body needs to push you as hard as it can. "Junk food is called 'empty calories' because it tends to be low in vitamins, minerals and other nutrients," says Denis Faye, nutrition content director at Beachbody. “A lack of some of these nutrients, such as iron or various vitamins B12, has a direct effect on energy levels. Other nutrient deficiencies can be more insidious, like how an iodine deficiency can ultimately affect your thyroid gland.

Not only do you need to eat the right foods, but you also need to eat the right amounts. To have the energy to push yourself, you need to eat enough so that you don't feel sluggish and unfocused. “The plateau is a pretty good sign that you are undernourished,” says Faye. Strength gain is when you don't lose weight, but you don't gain it either. By increasing your calorie intake, you can give your body more fuel to help you deal with tough workouts effectively. If you want an easy way to figure out how much and what kind of food you should be eating, the Portion Fix Eating Plan is simple, and doesn`t require you to count any calories.

5. Get reinforcements
Supplements can be extremely helpful when your body is exerting lots of energy for a long time. They can help push you through longer workouts, but supplements aren`t just for endurance athletes — they can be just as helpful (and important) for any shorter workout regime. Preworkout drinks, like Beachbody Performance Energize, can pump you up to go all out in a workout. Boosting energy can have great benefits when you're lifting heavier weights or doing cardio for longer than usual.
And when you start to feel the pain mentioned earlier, you don't have to take it all on yourself. Beachbody Performance Recover and Recharge helps reduce post-workout muscle inflammation and also aids in muscle rebuilding. So not only will it help you recover faster and reduce muscle pain, but your muscles will also be strengthened to be even stronger.