I don't know about you but if my exercise isn't varied I get bored, then burned out, then find every excuse in the book not to get in my workout. Sure it's easy to just hop on the treadmill and crank out two or three miles (kudos to those of you who can stay focused enough to do more than that!) or plop on the bike with a good book and pump those legs, but varying your workout can be important for multiple reasons.
Varying your workout can help you stay fresh and interested, it can help you reach numerous goals, and it can also help your fitness levels. I don't pretend to be a fitness guru but it seems that everyone will tell you that your body can quickly get used to certain exercises which cause you to have to work harder in order to see the same results.
Although this is the 100 Mile Fitness Challenge and we track our progress in miles, I'm going to challenge you to switch things up this week or during the following weeks. I suspect that there are lots of walkers in this group, which is great, but there are so many physical activities one can do to stay fit. Belong to a gym? Check out an exercise class--yoga, spin, step, kickboxing, strength training. Don't belong to a gym? Play basketball or tennis or even just grab those dusty set of handweights and do basic squats, lunges, bicep curls, etc.
So go out and shake things up a bit. If you write a weekly progress report, tell us in your progress report how you're switching things up a bit. If you don't blog about your exercising, tell us in the next Friday progress report.
How do you switch things up when you're regular exercise routine gets old and tired? Leave us some suggestions in the comments below. I know I love hearing how people keep their workout regimen fresh and hopefully you can gain some pointers, too.
5 comments:
I usually try to switch up the types of workouts I do on my elliptical, but ironically this week I'd already planned to do an exercise workout (from a video) twice instead of the elliptical. We are so on the same page! :D
I am trying to vary my workouts through the whole thing so that I can hopefully burn some fat and shape my body some. I did a Yoga/Pilates video last night that left me sore, sore, sore today. I do 3 different exercise videos though and walk on the treadmill at the gym so that I don't get bored. So far it's working. I've had a low level of soreness for most of the last month doing the weights videos, cardio videos, walking, and now yoga/pilates. Have I lost any weight though? No, of course not! I do not have the most strict diet in the world! LOL!
My favorite exercise is to go for a run on the trail but I also walk and over the last 6 months, have found some video workouts that I like. On days when I cannot get out, I have The 30 Day Shred. It is only a 20 minutes workout but it is good and if you keep it up, the results come pretty quickly. And I have two Kathy Smith videos that have 10 and 20 minutes workouts for strength, abdominal, and core exercises. I can fit in a 20 minute video in the morning so it works for me. I also have an elipitcal but because I am at risk for osteoperosis, I am trying to focus on the impact exercises more than the fat burning ones.
Every month (sometimes longer) I redo my goals in order to help me reach the "well-rounded, non-rut-forming" workouts.
For instance, in January, my goals were:
1. walk 8 mi/week
2. 2 non-walking cardio workouts/ week
3. yoga twice/week
4. pilates once/week
5. strength train twice/week
6. go to the local state park at least twice during the month for a trail hike
To get varying workouts, I am an avid reader of Self, Fitness, and Shape magazines, but you don't have to have a subscription to get their workouts. Each of their websites offers free memberships and tons of workouts to choose from (everything from a do at home using no equipment to a workout you can take to the gym with specialized equipment).
Great suggestions!! I really try hard to vary my workouts because it seems that if I continue to do the same thing day in and out my results tend to plateau.
Again, not fitness guru, but I've heard that interval training is really good for you--mixing cardio and weights or even doing short bursts of high energy blasts in the middle of your workout.
When I wasn't so obsessed with getting miles in a set time I like to run for a minute, walk 2 minutes, etc etc. It actually helps the time go fast, too!
Thanks for your input!!
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