4 tactics to find out if your training is having an effect –

You shouldn’t carry the motto no pain, no gain so literally. That feeling of finished legs after lower limb training is not the best way to know if the session was fruitful. “The famous post-exercise pain is caused by small inflammation in the muscles and it appears when the body is not prepared for the effort it has just made”, explains Sérgio Sales Junior, technical coordinator at Bodytech, in São Paulo.

For this reason, it’s common to notice a considerable decrease in pain when your body gets used to the loads, series and repetitions – which doesn’t mean that training is no longer having an effect. Check out other more effective ways to assess whether your effort it’s really working.

Read more: 6 attitudes to adopt when the result in the gym does not appear

1. You leave the gym feeling better than when you arrived.

One of the key indicators that your effort really paid off is finishing your workout feeling refreshed rather than sluggish or sore. “Tiredness it is a sign that you are betting on the wrong intensity or loads”, says Sales Junior. It’s even normal to notice a sensitivity in the muscles, but nothing more. On the contrary: there should be energy left to face the rest of the day.

2. You raise your heart rate

Your FCM (frequency maximum heart rate) can be calculated from the following formula: 220 heart beats per minute – (any less) your age. The effort made during intense aerobic exercises should make you reach approximately 80% of this result. Already during strength training, set a goal to stay between 60% and 75%.

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3. You hit your ideal RPE

Will use rate of perceived exertion – or perceived exertion rate, in Portuguese – to measure the quality of training is very easy. Just set a scale from 1 to 10, with 10 being the level at which you no longer feel able to do any type of exercise. Then, just use this measurement to assess the intensity of the workout. Regular cardio sessions should get you feeling between the 5th and 7th houses. Strength exercises, between the 7th and 9th. HIITbetween 8 and 9.

4. You increase the intensity and load of exercises regularly (without feeling pain)

Modify the training routine periodically and get heavier at Workout little by little is a sign that you are on the right path. “A good tip is to try to increase the load each week, even if it’s just half a kilo”, suggests Sales Junior. “The progression must be done slowly and steadily”, he concludes.

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