Whether you are a long time fitness enthusiast, a total beginner to exercise, or somewhere in the middle, there are a number of ways that you can quickly and easily improve your performance…safely.

The thing is, there are plenty of ways to improve your performance when working out, but if you are not careful, you can end up doing too much too quickly, destroying your body and requiring years of chiropractic work and rehab in the process.

Exercise is an absolutely essential part of a long, healthy, and enjoyable life, but it needs to be done the right way.

Here are a few ways you can increase your performance while decreasing the odds of needing rehab.

1. Progressively Overload

If you want to make consistent progress in any exercise, then you need to progressively overload your body.

If you are in the weight room, this means adding more weight. If you are a bodyweight athlete, this means trying more challenging variations. And if you prefer cardio it means increasing speed or the difficulty of the terrain.

But the key here is to do this progressively. Overload little by little, and only once you have mastered the previous weight or exercise.

2. Take Warm Up and Recovery Seriously

If you are not warming up before workouts and stretching afterwards, then you are not only damaging your performance, but you are dooming your body to years of acute pain joint problems.

Make sure that you properly warm up before you touch a weight and finish your workout with light yoga, foam rolling, or something similar.