Move It Monday: Diversify Your Workout

From our friends at Move It Monday:

Mix it up! This Monday, stir up your exercise routine. Studies show diversifying exercise routines avoids stagnant results. If you do the same routine over and over, it could be time to explore some new work out options.

Targeting different muscle groups keeps your muscles on their toes. Unless you’re training for a race, repetitive exercise doesn’t reap the full benefits of varying your fitness routine periodically. With some planning, soon you’ll be able to reshape your shape.

Adaptation is Plateauing

Tricking adaptation is the key. Your body is so smart, it tries something a few times and gets the hang of it very quickly. It adapts beautifully. Muscles stop getting stronger, heart rates level, and you don’t need to work as hard as you were during the first few weeks of an exercise. Avoiding repetitive motions also decreases the likelihood of injury.

Whole Body Workout

When you design your exercise routine include upper body, lower body, and cardio to have a whole body workout. Make it fun. Mix up an exercise like jogging with some low-impact activities like crunches and squats. Or, swim for 30 minutes then do some lateral lunges to open up your hips and strengthen those muscles. Draw up a plan, put it on the fridge, and check off your weekly accomplishments. By the end of the week, you’ll be humming along with a perfect routine.

Spice it Up

Doing the same thing over and over also takes the fun out of doing it. If you like to walk, walk on the treadmill and mix it up with the incline settings. If you like to ride a stationary bicycle, try the elliptical. If you like to lift weights, take a strength training class. Or a dance class. Or a yoga class. Use this Monday to reset your routine to get stronger faster, build endurance, and trick adaptation.

By shaking up your routine this Monday, you’ll keep your body and its adaptive powers on its toes. Diversity makes you stronger but it also keeps things stimulating. Challenge yourself to get creative with your routine, you’ll be surprised by what you can achieve.

Move It Monday!

From MoveItMonday.org:

Simple exercise might be the way to go

Complicated fitness videos getting you down? Feeling overwhelmed from too many machines and too many workouts to record? Let us help you pare down and simplify your exercise routine and still keep your body happy and healthy.

Dance like a baby. It’s a new trend ushered in by modern dance groups and immortalized by Gwyneth Paltrow and late night show host James Corden. First, find a toddler! Put him or her in the middle of the floor and mimic every move. You’ll be dipping and diving, spinning on the floor, stomping your feet, and shaking your fanny. You’ll even get to walk like you have two-ton weights in your shoes. Like a toddler! A lot of good movement, with the joy of being completely unselfconscious!

Put down the wallet. Don’t even think about buying another piece of equipment. Use plastic water bottles filled with water and heave them overhead. Hold them while doing squats. Carry them while doing jumping jacks. Punch them forward like you’re boxing. As you get stronger, graduate to bigger bottles and more water. Just make sure you close the caps tightly!

Chuck the Stairmaster. You don’t need heavy equipment to work those glutes. Any stairs will do – in your office, in somebody’s else office, in the stadium. One study showed that just taking the stairs for about 13 minutes per day improves heart rate, breathing capacity, and HDL cholesterols. Even two minutes at a time, seven times a day, will meet your target.

Hide the car keys. Every day you probably run a million errands in your car. Rethink your routes and see if you can multitask by walking or jogging. Invest in a backpack or green bag to carry home groceries. In Manhattan, more and more people are renting Citibank bikes just to get to work. Less stilettoes, more sneakers!

Turn up da volume. Anything done to loud music doesn’t feel like exercise but still works up a sweat. Kick up your playlist, shut the windows, hide the mirrors, and rock out. Imagine yourself at your best jam and dance exactly the way you want to. One hour every day will not just tone your body, it will clear your mind. And leave you with that “What me, exercise?” smile on your face.