I know, I know – you’ve heard it all before from your own trainer, fitness instructor, or coach…”keep your shoulders relaxed,” “engage the abdominals,” “exhale on the concentric movement, inhale on the eccentric movement,” blah, blah, blah. I harp on these details during every workout with my clients too. Though redundant, the constant feedback makes a difference. For example, repeatedly holding tension in the neck during strength training is a sure-fire way to develop knots in your traps. I may remind a client to get a drink of water after every 2-3 exercises. Poor hydration during any training, strength or cardio, is just asking for abdominal and/or muscle cramping.

Here are a few of the more common details that are overlooked:

1. Warm up. Regardless of the workout, spend at least 5 mins warming up at 40-50% of max heart rate. The increased blood flow to the working muscles sends the message, “hey, get ready, there is a workout coming!” Warm muscles are more receptive to optimal training (read: better results!)

2. Keep your head in line with your spine. A neutral head/neck means not looking at your toes when doing lunges, or looking at your naval when doing crunches. Your muscles know what to do and the last thing they need is an audience. Cranking your neck to watch the muscle in action is asking for trouble (read: neck injury!) Out of whack posture during any exercise sets off a collision course of muscle imbalance overcompensation, which, over time, leads to nothing but trouble. Practice good posture and all will be good.

3. Don’t forego the stretch. Time is a rare commodity these days – I get it. I too am guilty of bolting from the gym sans stretch from time-to-time, and I pay for it later by way of tight muscles, knots, and eventually, injury. It only takes about 10 minutes to properly stretch out post-workout. At the very least, hit the major muscles worked: quads, hamstrings, glutes, calves, back, chest, and abs/hip flexors. Over-tight muscles, left unstretched, eventually lead to injury, so do yourself (and your muscles) and favor…stretch!

4. Refuel. The time-factor thing gets in the way of post-workout recovery too, yet it is so simple to plan for: just bring a snack with you to the gym and eat it after your workout. The optimal ratio is a 4:1 ratio of carbs to protein. Muscles are primed to take in nutrients during the first hour after a workout (esp after a tough workout). Deprive them of needed nutrients, and your next workout will be sluggish (read: harder than it should be.)

In terms of exercise, the sweating the small stuff is a good thing, so pay attention to the details and you’ll notice how much better you feel during, after, and between workouts.