Many people set big goals for themselves. Setting the right goals can lead to huge progress and big gains. However, people often abandon or lose sight of their aspirations. We’ll cover the art of setting goals as well as weightlifting tips and a bodybuilding meal plan.
Setting Realistic Fitness Goals
Setting realistic fitness goals is a big undertaking. If you make a goal specific and measurable and set a time limit in which to accomplish it, you’re more likely to succeed. Tracking your progress is essential. For example, let’s say your goal is to get fit. Well, what exactly is fit? What do you picture as being fit? These are some important questions to ask. Saying you want to get fit isn’t really measurable or specific. However, saying you want to be able to do more pullups is much better. Being specific, you might say you’re going to do 10 pullups each day. A plan like this can take you a lot further than a plan to “get fit.”
Focusing on one goal at a time is something else that can help. Trying to do too much at a time is a common mistake that people make. Your goal might be hitting the gym every day, dieting, sleeping well, and following a strict training program. In reality, setting this many goals at a time will likely lead to failure. This huge list of to-dos can make a person very anxious. Seeing your aspirations as a large undertaking can make you feel like a failure.
Give yourself some flexibility to succeed. Though a highly structured plan technically should help you reach a goal, there are always times you can’t follow it exactly. Everyone is human. If you see the road to success as rigid and unwavering, you’re less likely to get there. Set goals you think you can achieve, and adjust them as you go. If they’re too difficult, you may need to lower them a bit, and vice versa. There’s no shame in altering your goals to suit your body’s current limits better. Having flexibility can lead to much more progress.
Best Weightlifting Tips for 2021
Weightlifting truly is an art form. If you do it the right way, you can make significant gains. Doing it the wrong way can lead to disappointment and injury. Here are a few of the best weightlifting tips for 2021:
- Load your muscles
- Practice good meal timing
- Get enough rest to recover
- Set realistic goals
- Switch up intensity level
- Get plenty of sleep
- Add cardio to the workout
Overloading your muscles is an excellent way to get stronger. Doing this means exercising all of your major muscle groups at least two times a week. Most top-tier weightlifters agree that shocking the muscles is key to growth. However, that doesn’t mean practicing bad form and injuring yourself. Since you’ll be training a lot, you need a near-perfect form to stay safe. Doing reps until failure is an easy way to overload your muscles safely. It’s best if you use a weight that you can lift only six to 12 times. This number is ideal for seeing the most strength progress.
Meal timing is one of the most critical aspects of any weight training plan. Right before working out, eat or drink some protein, preferably 20 grams. Within the first 30 minutes of a workout, eat or drink another 20 grams of protein. Lots of carbohydrates become essential if you’re working out more than an hour.
The rest of the list is just as important. You should always make sure to let your body rest in between workouts. Without this rest, your body doesn’t have time to grow and repair muscle fibers, leading to injury and no improvement. It’s also great to switch up your intensity level. Doing this, you can effectively shock your muscles. Cardio is your friend. Many experienced weightlifters say a lack of cardio can strongly limit your gains. It’s great for your health, it burns calories, and it can even help your muscles grow.
Bodybuilding Meal Plan
A bodybuilding meal plan can take your fitness game to the next level. Some of the best foods to eat are meats, grains, fruits, dairy, vegetables, beans and legumes, seeds and nuts, and oils. Just as important as those are the foods you shouldn’t eat. Some of those include added sugars, alcohol, and high-fat, high-fiber, and deep-fried foods. Even if you follow a strict training regimen, these can hinder your progress.
Bodybuilding diets are often considered boring, restrictive, and repetitive. For this reason, it’s best to vary your diet, just like your training program. All of your meals should have at least 20 grams of protein to build muscle. However, bulking and cutting are two big factors to consider. If you’re bulking, you’re going to eat much more food than if you’re cutting.
Here’s an example of a one-day bodybuilding meal plan: For breakfast, have some scrambled eggs along with oatmeal and mushrooms. Then, have some blueberries and cottage cheese for a snack. At lunchtime, eat a burger with broccoli and rice. Between lunch and dinner, have a protein shake and a banana. Dinner might be stir-fry with chicken, brown rice, egg, and broccoli.
Though this is a one-day meal plan, you shouldn’t follow it more than twice a week. Effective bodybuilding requires a wide variety of meal plans that are similar to this. In a weekly diet, you should eat at least three different types of meat. You’re going to burn out very quickly if you don’t vary your meal plan. On the other hand, if you don’t have time to make a plan every day, there’s still hope. Just eat lots of nutrient-dense foods, and try to have 20-30 grams of protein each meal. With an excellent diet and meal plan, any bodybuilder can flourish and see huge gains.
At Titan Fitness, we have the equipment you need to achieve your fitness goals in the new year.
