Sometimes you don’t have that spark for a workout, or muscles are still aching from a previous workout.
Yes, sometimes a rest day is as good as a workout, but if you’re there and want an alternative, try the following;
Problem – Aching legs from a football/sport or heavy legs workout
Exercise Resolution – Jump onto a static bike, plug in some tunes and go for a “steady state” cycle – keep the resistance low to moderate and look to spin the RPMs around the 70-80 mark for approx 15-20mins. This will get the blood around the body and legs in particular delivering key, fresh nutrients to those “worked” muscles, whilst assisting with removal of lactic acid and by-products. Finish with some static stretching.
Supplement Resolution – Vitamin C and a good strength Omega-3 oil will help with internal inflammation. Nitric Oxide or Arginine before the session is also good for blood vessel dilation to assist with nutrient delivery and by-product removal. Alternatively Magnesium oil is a fantastic muscle relaxant – spray this on the worked muscle before bed and wake up with fresh muscles!
Problem – Feeling round shouldered and slouched from sitting at the desk all day?
Exercise Resolution – Stretch out the pec muscles(those that tighten and round the shoulders) and then run through some pulling exercises, incorporating movements into the body. This will work the upper back muscles which will not only pin them back, enhance your posture, but will give you that feeling of “opening up” from the desk gorilla position!
Problem – General muscle ache due to previous workout
Exercise Resolution – Rather than hammering the muscles again, before they have properly healed, either pick a light weight you can perform 15-20 reps with and bash out 2-3 controlled sets of full body exercises to increase new blood flow to the area without causing further damage both to the muscles and the central nervous system (the nerves control your muscle stimulus as well as your “overtraining system”) or pick 5 full body movements, and run through 3-4 rounds of a bodyweight circuit – squats, pressups, lunges, burpee, inverted row, plank.
Again enough to get the muscles working and the blood flow moving, but without additional external resistance which could cause more damage than benefit.
Feeling low and in need of a pre-workout pickup? Here are a few; 1) Caffeine – a shot of espresso 30mins before a workout will give you the stimulant needed to power on. Advisable not to take after 4pm due to the stimulant effect 2) Try 5g of Tyrosine before the session to enhance mental clarity and alertness 3) Acetyl L Carnitine, 2g mid morning will keep senses alert and can help with fat oxidation.
4) 15mg of zinc before bed, or 5-HTP will help sleep levels, thereby increasing recovery and freshness for the next morning.
