5 Training Tips and Techniques Pro Athletes Use to Stay Fit Forever

One of the things that one may notice about pro athletes is that (except in certain extreme cases) they stay fit well in their 50s and 60s. This idea alone may be unfathomable to some people who’re just making their first steps in the gym. This is an especially surprising if they start comparing these athletes to their own friends and family members that are of the same age. Fortunately, with these five tips, you’ll be able to emulate these same results with no trouble.

1.      Rules instead of diets

The first thing you need to understand is the fact that the term diet doesn’t have anything innately bad in its meaning. Unfortunately, it’s the interpretation of this word that creates a lot of trouble for a lot of people. Namely, diet is often seen as a short-term solution that’s meant to give you some sort of a short-term effect. People on a diet often want to get fit for the summer or loose a pound here or there so that they can fit in their high school jeans or a bridesmaid’s dress. Instead, eating healthy needs to be a rule, a lifestyle.

2.      Counting calories

The next thing you need to understand is the fact that gaining or losing mass (both fat and muscle) often comes down to a calorie count. To make the matters worse, the majority of people have no clue how many calories foods they consume every day contain. For instance, just 100g of peanuts contain almost 600 calories, which is an insane amount for a snack, especially for someone who needs to consume 2,200 calories per day in order to lose weight. In the age of the internet, there’s no more excuse for not checking the average calorie count. Nevertheless, those interested in maximizing the effect of this also need to get a miniature digital scale and start measuring their meals.

3.      Not fearing supplementation

Supplements help you cut calories, gain mass, recover and improve your efficiency. People who know nothing about this field often fear supplementation as something harmful or dangerous. Banned and illegal substances are one thing, while things like whey protein, quality carbohydrates powder, caffeine and vitamins are something else entirely. With their help, you can eat much better while still staying on a budget, as well as allow your body to use these nutrients to the fullest. For instance, whey protein isolate has the highest bio-availability there is. This means that your body can use proteins from this powder with greater efficiency (and lower effort) than any you can get from regular food.

4.      Understanding the effect of exercises

A person who leads a sedentary lifestyle, can see progress if they start going on regular walks. On the other hand, someone who already works out and wants to raise the state of their body to the next level might want to learn a bit more of effect of various exercises on their body. Just simple running can have different effects, depending on whether you’re sprinting or jogging. HIIT, weight lifting and martial arts also have their own unique niches where they’re effective.

Contrary to the popular belief, weightlifting is much more efficient at burning calories than running. This is due to the fact that your metabolism (influenced by weightlifting) might keep burning calories for hours after you leave the gym. These are just a couple of tricks that make it much easier for a professional athlete to stay fit.

5.      Rest, rest, rest

Finally, every athlete knows that the resting period is when your body shapes up the most. When your muscles recover from stress, they’ll grow to become stronger, bigger and better and your fat burns even while you sleep. The problem lies in the fact that a lot of first-timers see resting as downtime. This makes them believe that this one additional day of training, which they’ll gain from not resting, might make a difference. Of course it can, just not the kind of a difference that they were hoping for. Overtraining is a serious problem and most professional athletes know how to efficiently avoid it.

In conclusion

As you can see, the biggest difference between you and the professional athlete (other than discipline that comes with time and results as a motivation) is in knowledge. You see, they know that what they’re doing is 100 percent effective and that all they need now is time and perseverance. A first-time gym owner A) doubts their program and B) might start doubting their plan altogether if the results don’t come within a couple of weeks. With this brief list as a guidance, you now have the tools to make the same kind of difference in your favor.