Unfortunately, human beings are cultivated to be creatures of habit. We are guilty of having a hard time deterring from the same routine that we do daily. From the time we wake up in the morning until the time we go to bed, we can pretty much hit copy and paste for the whole week. If you were to chose to do anything different in life, chose to change up your workout.
I have seen people do the same workout for years, never see any results, and never questions if what they were doing was wrong. You go to the gym for your daily workout. All supplies in hand : ipod, magazine, and a chilled bottle of H2O. You hop on the elliptical, nonchalantly moving at about 60-80 strides/minute, with zero resistance for 45-minutes. You hop off - squeeze in a couple of sets on the chest press, lat pull-down, and a couple sets of serious bicep curls (with a hip thrust). Pretty much effortlessly! After two-years, you’re a pro at this routine. You have only put on a few pounds, but after that hour workout …you always lose 2-3lbs of water weight. It must be your age or metabolism, right?
Wrong. Your daily routine, has become as beneficial to you as your daily walk to and from the car. It has become a norm in your life. How can you change it? It is easy.. It is called the FITT Principle. FITT: frequency, intensity, time, and type. You can chose to do the same thing for years, but every once in a while change one of the components to your workout.
How do you do this: Let’s use your cardio workout as an example. You usually get a machine 5 days a week, which equals your Frequency. you keep your strides between 60-80 strides/minute, zero resistance = Intensity. Time is 45 minutes. Type, is easy enough… elliptical.
Here are a few examples on how to change your cardio workout:
Frequency = 5 days, Intensity = 60-70 strides/min, Level 5 resistance, Time = 30 minutes
So, if you only have an hour for a workout you can get a full body, strength training workout in. Whoo hoo! We can work more than the, “show me muscles”. If you need help getting out of that rut of a routine you have been in for years, seek out a trainer to get you started. It is worth the investment.
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