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Cross Training
One of the biggest misconceptions about exercise is that there is "one" program that works for someone all the time. People think that they need to get on a particular workout program and just keeping doing that program over and over again. Although...
Exercise Equipments That Suit Your Fitness Goals
Health-buffs that have been using exercise equipments are surely no neophytes on this matter. But newbies on exercise equipment won't have a hard time on knowing which to use. It's just a matter of getting armed with the right info...
Obesity
Obesity is considered a major health problem in the United States. Obesity has been declared as an epidemic by The Center for Disease Control and Prevention. It is very unfortunate but true that more than 300,000 people die every year due to...
Personal Training: 5 Easy Steps to Sanity on the Road
If you have been a personal trainer for any length of time - or any fitness professional, for that matter - then you know what it's like to spend a lot of time on the road. For trainers who work with their clients in homes or a geographic mix of...
Warming Up Properly
Copyright 2005 Tanja Gardner In our ‘Stretching’ article series (http://optimumlife.co.nz/Fitness%20Articles/Stretching/Stretching1.htm), we discussed why it’s important to stretch as part of your workout. We also touched on the importance of...
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Mixing Things Up
To say that the human body is an amazing machine is an understatement, especially when it comes to diet and exercise. Our bodies are constantly trying to achieve a state of homeostasis. The human body over time will make adjustments to try and adapt to its current environment.
The biggest problem with sticking with the same diet and exercise plan day in and day out is that your body will eventually adapt to that plan. The goal is to make subtle changes that keep your body guessing.
Use shock principles with your workouts
There are minor changes that you can do to your workout that will drastically improve your performance. One trick that I like to use is to take comparable exercises and swap them out from week to week. For example, let’s take a basic quadriceps workout. I’ll group my exercises into different categories
Category A: Free weight squats, Smith machine squats
Category B: Leg press, Hack squats
Category C: Leg extensions, lunges
During week one I will use one exercise from each category. The following week I will pick a different group of exercises from my list and so on and so on. For
example:
Week One: Free weight squats, Hack squats, Leg extensions
Week Two: Smith machine squats, Leg press, lunges
Week Three: Smith machine squats, Leg press, leg extensions
*Note: These are drastic changes and the changes don’t have to be done every week but they do keep your workouts from becoming stale.
Another option I use in my workouts is to cycle the weight and intensity. I like to train hard and heavy for three to four weeks then do one to two weeks of lighter weight with higher repetitions. Another benefit to cycling your training intensity is that you can decrease the risk of injuries.
Tying it all together
If you notice that your workout program is no longer working for you then try mixing things up. Add a little spice to your workouts and change the tempo. You may be surprised that a few subtle changes can drastically change your workout results.
About the Author
Gerald Gore is the owner of the online fitness review site One4Fitness. For more health and fitness related tips and reviews on workout equipment visit Gerald’s site at http://www.one4fitness.com.
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