What’s the Best Way to Maximize Your Fitness Potential?

Your body is capable of amazing things. It can lift hundreds of pounds, withstand tremendous pain, and adapt to the surrounding environment. Each day, it fights stress and heals itself over and over again.

The question is: how can you make the most out of it in the gym? What’s the best way to boost your fitness potential?

There is no one-size-fits-all solution to reaching optimal sports performance. How much muscle and strength you can gain depends on your genes. However, there are certain factors you have control over, such as your diet and lifting technique. With hard work, you can maximize your fitness potential and get faster gains. Here are some tips to help you out:

Prioritize Tough, High-Intensity Workouts

Sprinting, HIIT, full body circuits, and other high-intensity workouts can boost your fitness level and exercise performance. These training methods raise your heart and target nearly every muscle, causing your body to work harder. As a result, you’ll get leaner and stronger. Your metabolism will go through the roof!

HIIT, for instance, burns up to 30 percent more calories compared to other forms of exercise. The best part is that your energy expenditure stays up for hours after training. This means you’ll torch calories during AND after leaving the gym. With HIIT, you’ll lose stubborn fat and preserve lean muscle.

Eat More Fat

This may sound counterproductive, but it actually works. Dietary fats fight inflammation, fuel your brain, and improve your ability to burn stored fat for energy. These nutrients also balance your hormone levels, which results in better exercise performance.

For example, omega-3s help increase testosterone and growth hormone levels. These hormones regulate fat distribution, muscle growth, metabolism, and body composition. A diet rich in healthy fats can help you recover faster from training and perform better in the gym. Moreover, it improves circulation and cardiovascular health.

Progression Is Everything

No matter how hard you’re working out, you’ll hit a plateau sooner or later. The only way to gain muscle size and strength is to keep your body guessing. This can be done by changing workout variables, such as duration, intensity, number of reps and sets, load, and exercises.

Let’s say you’re doing the shoulder press with 150 pounds on the barbell. Every time you’re training, add another 15-20 pounds. Increase the load by 10 percent from one session to the next. This way, you’ll challenge your muscles into growth and become stronger.

Apply this concept to any sport, whether it’s running, weight training, or powerlifting. Progression is the key.