Discover 10 proven strategies to boost your energy for the gym, from sleep and nutrition to supplements and mindset, so you can train harder, stay focused, and maximize your results.
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Though it is certainly wise to take an occasional respite from the rigors of high intensity weight training, consistency of effort is, for the most part, the surest way to optimal gains in lean muscle mass. Missed workouts can, and will, curtail our mass-building efforts. Without the regular stimulation of our muscles through increasingly heavier and more intensive workloads, they will simply fail to adequately respond (as there will be nothing to respond to). Atrophy will occur and we will again have to ramp up the volume if further gains are to be sought.
How to boost energy before exercise?
As active participants in the 21st century “rat-race”, the hectic lives we lead leaches from us much of our energy – both mental and physical – the biggest problem many of us face when preparing to train is:
Finding the motivation to get started
Ensuring our sessions are intense enough for muscle stimulation
Overcoming the tendency to slack off when energy is low
Self-preservation is a fundamental prerequisite for survival, and when faced with the prospect of further draining precious energy resources, many of us enter survival mode—we avoid that which may further deplete us, namely training—and the last thing we wish to do, from the sanctity of such a comfort zone, is to bench 205 for 12–15 reps.
All of that being said, how do we foster the energy needed to train when we do not have the energy needed for physical activity? The following ten tips will explain how we can build the energy we need to train all out, and how we can, if needed, generate enough should our supply have dwindled to near zero.
1. Chill Out!
The busy lives most of us lead often preclude adequate downtime for our minds to rest and relax; with so much to do we find ourselves at times literally gasping for breath. Though we often don’t physically feel the damaging effects of our 24/7 on-the-go lifestyles, until it’s too late that is, a lackluster workout should hint at a need to slow down.
There are plenty of opportunities throughout the average day to catch some downtime: when eating breakfast, forego those emails and simply sit in silence and enjoy the moment – the calm before the storm. When travelling, turn off your hand held, stay away from the news and instead listen to some music. Whenever you get the opportunity, tune out and relax. You may think this to be wasted time, but the improved quality of what you can accomplish with a rested mind will tell you it’s an investment not to be overlooked.
2. Prioritize Sleep
Closely related to tip 1 is the undeniable benefit of proper sleep. Today I almost (almost!) put off my morning training session. Why? Because last night I worked late and, today, had to rise early; this shortened by two hours the duration of my normal seven-hour sleeping period.
Sleep supports muscle growth – Key recovery processes like protein synthesis and hormone release (growth hormone, testosterone) occur during sleep.
It restores mental and physical energy – Proper rest helps you feel recharged and focused for intense training.
7–9 hours is the sweet spot – Consistently hitting this range ensures optimal performance and readiness to lift heavy.
Consistently achieving 7–9 hours of quality sleep each night could be the single most important way to ensure we are functioning on all cylinders – and ready to push some serious weight.
3. Avoid Haters
As with all negative stress, associating with negative people can deplete our energy levels to render us less capable of fully exerting ourselves where it counts, in the gym. By engaging in pointless arguments over trivial matters with small-minded people, we tax our nervous systems, diminish our focus, and drain our carbohydrate reserves (the mental effort needed to defend one’s stance or to justify a position requires much brain power, and our brains are powered by carbohydrates).
"SIMPLY LISTENING TO THE RANTING OF A NEGATIVE PERSON CAN PROVE MENTALLY EXHAUSTING, ESPECIALLY WHEN THE CONVERSATION TURNS TO THINGS WHICH ARE CLOSE TO OUR HEARTS, LIKE BODYBUILDING, NUTRITION AND WEIGHT LIFTING."
To ensure you have the mental energy needed to apply 100 percent effort in the training trenches, and to maintain one’s sanity, avoid negative people like the plague.
4. Know What to Eat Before Exercise
A no-brainer you say? Well, in the many years I have spent training people I would say the greatest contributor to low energy levels among trainees would have to be, by far, insufficient carbohydrate intake. Though many people feel they are getting enough carbs in their diet, closer inspection almost always reveals a significant lack of this important energizing macro-nutrient.
So long as one trains hard and the types of carbohydrates they consume are of the complex and fibrous variety, which include things like brown rice, sweet potatoes, whole grains and broccoli, there is little chance of piling on the fat. These people would, on the other hand, be surprised at the positive impact a high carbohydrate diet can have on their training intensity levels. I advise my clients to up their carbs 24 hours before a hard training session. This ensures more weight can be lifted, and workout duration will no longer be a limiting factor.
5. Drink Enough Water Intra- and Pre-Exercise
Dehydration, however slight, can lead to the improper processing of nutrients, most significantly carbohydrates.
Storing carbohydrates requires water – To store 1 gram of carbs, the body needs 3 grams of water. Without this, training energy drops.
Hydrated muscles perform better – They generate more force, improve leverage, and sustain contractions longer.
Dehydration leads to fatigue – Without proper hydration, you risk muscular weakness, low blood pressure, dizziness, and fatigue.
Without enough water during training, muscles accumulate waste products and cannot function optimally. To ensure peak hydration, drink between 2–4 liters of clean, fresh water per day .
6. Mentally Visualize Your Workouts
A training trick of many a bodybuilding champ is visualization: the process of picturing in your mind important training-related outcomes, and focusing intently upon these, so as to program the mind for success.
Not only is a rested mind more conducive to greater training focus, but the mental programming it receives via visualization will enable you to “flip the switch” and apply maximal intensity when it’s called for.
7. Avoid Distractions
Cast your eye around the interior of your local gym and you will see many people talking more than they train: that’s right, the ones with more muscle on their jaw-lines than on their biceps. Talking, letting your mind wander, listening to the conversations of others, or mentally preparing your grocery list – these all dilute the training experience.
The more mental energy you can apply to the training process, the higher your intensity will be and the greater the results. The most successful bodybuilders are inevitably those who can channel their energies into their training while blocking out all distractions. Achieving training outcomes is all about maximizing your workout time while distributing your energy evenly across the duration of a given session. Becoming distracted will only serve to negate this process.
8. Listen to Energy-Boosting Music
If you find yourself with near-zero energy levels but have, to your credit, decided to train anyway, it might be time for some energizing music. Whatever pushes your buttons, use this to elevate and inspire training intensity as you grasp that bar for rep number one.
Music. Fighters use it when walking out to battle; armies often use it when marching off to war; and for many of us, it helps to lift the spirits when life gets us down. It is not surprising then, that bodybuilders employ music – often hard rock or rap – to enhance their training output. Whether it’s “Welcome to the Jungle” or “Momma Said Knock You Out”, we all have a favorite piece of music that sets our wheels in motion. Find yours and use it to fuel more productive workouts.
9. Take a Pre-Workout Supplement
Though total nutritional intake is clearly an important factor in boosting workout energy levels, targeted supplementation with a reputable pre-workout has become one of the most effective ways to further elevate training intensity. Through the vasodilation of blood vessels, enhanced ATP production, alertness and mental arousal through CNS stimulation, pre-workout supplements allow us to train harder for longer and at higher levels of intensity than ever before.
By combining all of these factors, the bodybuilder, however mentally and physically drained they may be, is able to draw upon a new found, rapidly supplied, energy source enabling them to ramp up their training efforts for the full duration of their workouts.
By combining all of these factors – as is achieved through ALLMAX’s pre-workout supplements – the bodybuilder, however mentally and physically drained they may be, is able to draw upon a new found, rapidly supplied, energy source enabling them to to ramp up their training efforts for the full duration of their workouts.
10. Have an Exercise Plan
Failing to plan, is planning to fail. With the right training plan in place, one’s mind is unburdened by what needs to be done to achieve their bodybuilding outcomes. Whenever we are unsure of what we are about to embark upon, we inevitably spend time, and mental energy, trying to figure out when we should be focusing our energies on completing the task at hand.
Before your next workout, be sure to know exactly what it is you wish to accomplish; ideally, this can be offloaded into a training diary which, if any doubt arises, can then be referred to at any stage of one’s workout. Know how long you expect to train for and the exact number of exercises, sets and reps you will be aiming to achieve. Only then will your mind be free to execute your game plan.
Conclusion
Training to build copious amounts of muscle can be challenging at the best of times. A failure to employ any of the above strategies can make it doubly so, and the energy we expend on irrelevant matters when we should be focusing it, laser-beam-like, on the task ahead is nothing more than a complete waste of time and effort. So before you decide to hit the gym, re-energize, be sure to prepare properly, get your mind in the game and prepare to push some weight. Fresh gains in lean muscle mass will be compensation enough for the time you invest in proper preparation and discipline.
