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In working with clients, preparation for your workout is something that I stress time and time again. In my opinion, your preparation for your workout is almost as important as the workout itself. So let's take a look at how we can prepare for our workout.


 
If you are going to ask your body to perform optimally, you need to prepare it for the workout at hand. To be honest, your workout today does have a lot to do with what you ate yesterday. But let's focus on how we could prepare in the hours leading up to our workout.

 
First, and maybe most importantly, is hydration. In order to perform optimally during your workout, you need to make sure that your body is hydrated. Make sure to have at least four to five glasses of water periodically in the hours leading up to your workout. Make sure that your urine is clear, and that you have proper hydration before beginning.

 
In my opinion and my experience, you perform most optimally, when you eat a nice size meal an hour and a half before your workout. That meal will have enough substance to sustain your energy levels during the workout. However, it is also my opinion that 20 minutes before your workout it's also a good idea to have a little something to put in your stomach. Nothing too much like a steak or a sandwich, but simply just a banana or an apple, just something to put in your system to spike your blood sugar bit.

 
Next, I think it's important to get your mind right. Mentally prepare yourself for the job at hand, and think about what you will do from the beginning to the end of the workout. Are you going to start off with chin-ups, are you going to work on barbell curls, really try to mentally visualize yourself going through the workout.

 
So in summation, your performance during the workout has a lot to do with your preparation leading up to it. Make sure that you are properly hydrated, have had enough to eat, and that you mentally envision what your workout will look like. If you do these things, I believe you will notice an increase in your performance which will then lead to Improvement in your results.