Recharge Your Routine With These Tips
As your body adapts to the increased demands that you place on it, you should respond by slowly increasing the workout intensity.
Training in this way will help you to continually build on your results over time. You can avoid hitting an exercise plateau by learning to listen to your body and increasing physical challenges.
Recharge your routine with these tips
You’re not increasing your heart rate
If your time on the treadmill or cardio equipment is used to get your heart rate up and feeling out of breath but in recent days you seem to have a stable heart rate and can easily talk through your workout it’s an indication that your cardiovascular fitness has improved.
In order to push yourself and burn additional calories, you need to increase the challenge.
Think like an athlete
Athletes train in cycles that involve increasing their intensity, duration, and load. This method has proven to be a very successful way to keep your body improving. In fact, everyone can benefit from training in cycles and adapting their exercise routine every few months.
Each workout cycle should be based on your response to an exercise program. Our bodies all respond to a new exercise routine differently. In general, you may start to notice some changes after following a plan consistently for 6-8 weeks.
You’re bored
If your workout has you feeling bored, then it’s definitely time to change it. It’s hard enough to stay motivated and stick with a plan in the first place. If you’re dreading your workout or can’t wait for it to be over, you risk falling off the fitness train altogether.
Your weights are too light
If you’re lifting weights as part of your workout and they feel too light, you may need to increase the weight you’re using. Lifting light weights for a high number of reps doesn’t provide your body with an effective challenge.
Select a weight that you can use to perform 10-12 reps while maintaining good form. The last 3-4 reps should feel like a challenge. I like to follow a simple rule: no more than 10% weight increase every 3-4 weeks. Repetition is essential for mastery and muscular change, so carefully select the right weight when you first start out. Then you can work on increasing intensity as needed.
