Our physical performance is influenced by several factors.
This week, we’ll teach you 3 essential routines so that you can be at your best when exercising.
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Taking care of your sleep
Sleep and physical activity influence each other! Restful sleep is essential for our health.
The World Health Organization recommends a minimum of 7 hours of sleep per night for an adult. For those who exercise, it is even more important to get these hours of sleep.
However, it’s not just the quantity of sleep that affects recovery, the quality of sleep is also an essential factor.
‘During sleep we go through several cycles lasting approximately 90 minutes each, and in each of these cycles we should ideally go through the 3 stages (REM – lighter sleep, NREM stage 1, 2 and 3, the latter being deep sleep).
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Balance between muscle strengthening and cardiovascular capacity
Whatever type of physical exercise you do, muscle strengthening is a priority in order to balance the body and not “addict” it to a specific movement pattern.
For example, if you’re a runner, it’s recommended that you do accessory muscle-strengthening training in order to strengthen your body for your main activity, which is running, thus avoiding injuries and improving performance.
The same applies in the opposite case: for someone who does bodybuilding, it is recommended that they do some additional work to improve their cardiovascular capacity, such as running, cycling or even circuit training.
In addition to improving physical capacity in general, improving cardiovascular capacity will allow for better oxygenation of the tissues, thus optimizing results.
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Mobility routines
Nowadays, more than ever, many hours of our day are spent sitting down, whether working, studying or simply fiddling with our cell phones.
These habits contribute to an increasingly sedentary lifestyle, which consequently leads to a gradual loss not only of muscle mass, but also of joint mobility, i.e. our body’s ability to move naturally without restrictions.
The main objective of mobility exercises is to contribute to the range and quality of movement, helping to prevent injuries and avoiding overloads, which are caused when one part of the body, due to some weakening or imbalance, moves poorly and ends up resulting in compensations by other body structures.
It’s therefore important to prioritize this type of routine, with 10 minutes a day, fitted in during training sessions, or separately throughout the day (right after waking up or even before bed are good options).
In this way, we make a substantial contribution to our body’s health and improve our training performance.
