1. Get a Personal Trainer
Sometimes to get the most out of your training program you need objective advice from a professional. We get very set in our ways and habits, which can be a good thing for consistency. However, it's hard to make upward progress when you do the same thing week after week, year after year. Following a program written by someone else can take the pressure off and give you new ideas.
2. Eat Well
Proper nutrition and effective training go hand-in-hand. Eating right is an essential component of all athletic activities. Eating well is the best way to be sure you get the most from your training and performance. What you eat before, during, and after exercise has a major impact on how well you perform and how well you feel. Good nutrition also allows you to maintain high quality training, good recovery and good race day performance.
3. Rest and Recover
This is an often overlooked part of effective training. If you don't plan rest or schedule recovery days in your training, you limit your ability to train. Your body actually gets strongerafter exercise stress, so you need to allow down time for rebuilding muscle tissue. An effective training program will have regular periods of rest and recovery. This also allows adaptation to the exercise -- you return bigger, stronger and faster. Rest also allows you to recover mentally and emotionally and avoid exercise burn-out.
