If you want to achieve peak performance, you might be surprised to know that there are some very common things that can affect your physical performance both positively and negatively, so you could perform better or worse depending on whether you have done them or not.
With that in mind, lets’ take a look at some of the most surprising things that can affect physical performance, so you can have the best workouts yet:
Sunlight
If you want to boost your fitness performance, try exercising outdoors during daylight hours. Vitamin D is vital for good health, but research has shown that exposure to UV rays at least three times a week can make you faster than before. Just remember to be safe and wear sunscreen (but not block).
Doing something good
Doing a good deed might not seem like something that could affect your performance one way or another. Still, studies have shown that people who, when given a dollar, decided to donate it rather than keep it could lift a five-pound weight for, on average, 120 seconds longer than those who kept the money, suggesting that altruism can enhance your performance positively.
Poor oral health
Suppose your teeth and gums are in a poor state. In that case, evidence suggests that it could affect your training performance by making you more susceptible to pain, more likely to suffer from inflammation, and less likely to have a good sense of wellbeing overall. Taking orthodontics and dentistry more seriously could help you improve your performance, especially exercise recovery, significantly. So be sure to book an appointment with your dentist as soon as possible.
Air pollution
If you exercise outdoors, try to get out into the woods or ad far away from the polluted city center as possible. Why? Because air pollution has been shown to slow running times, women are more affected than men, but anyone who breathes in smog is likely to be affected, even if they feel fine.
Your favorite music
Playing your favorite upbeat songs as you workout in the gym has improved performance. Not only does it help you to keep going, but it helps you to push harder and perform at the peak of your abilities. It needs to be music you love, which is ideally a speedy tempo, but any music you love will help your performance better than working out with no music at all.
Where you live
If you live in a so-called “fit city” where there are lots of gyms and fields and parks and farmers’ markets with lots of lovely fresh produce, you will almost certainly be fitter than if you live in a place where there are no facilities to help you keep fit.
As you can see, achieving peak physical performance is more complicated than you might have thought, but now you know what can affect your performance, you can start making even more gains.
