We discussed the fact that boredom is a factor in maintaining your workout program and not falling into a trap. There is another danger that can make you give up your workout before you have achieved your goals or felt any measured success. This trap is performing a workout incorrectly.
Correct Form
Every form of exercise has a correct form from walking to running to weight lifting to dancing in an aerobic class. You need to understand how to perform the exercises correctly so that you can maximize your results and minimize your risk of injury. While new exercises are not always comfortable – if you learn the proper technique and correct form, you’ll a great deal more enjoyment out of the workout.
There’s also something to be said for varying the routine. Many personal trainers espouse changing your routine up about once every 12 weeks. You can get used to your workout in 12 weeks and you can hit a stage of inertia where you are not really moving forward fitness wise but just maintaining.
Remember, without a challenge, your muscle development slows and then just becomes more efficient at what you are doing rather than gaining any real success. You can change your workout up in a variety of ways. You can change it by changing the type of routine, the time spent on the routines and even the intensity of the actual workout you are doing.
Vary Your Workout
For example, in a walking program, you may add some incline to it on the treadmill or change where you walk during an outdoor program. We have a local park about two miles from here that includes a number of steps sprinkled throughout the pathways. These are a great way of increasing the intensity of the workout by adding some steps up and down during the circuit.
These techniques are a way to break out of a plateau, varying your speed and your amount of effort can get your heart rate up and increase the amount of sweating you do. This can also get your muscles burning. The tearing of muscle fiber is what creates soreness the next day as the muscle repairs itself and grows stronger.
Still Uncertain?
Consider investing in a personal trainer to help you shake your workout up every 12 weeks or so. They can create a baseline from your initial workout and they are trained in physiology and muscle development. They can help you tweak the workout, give you lessons in correcting your form and building the intensity up at a regular rate.
They can also change your workout up enough to keep you interested and motivated. How do you correct your form and change up your exercises?
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