It’s annoying, I know but the old saying goes: “practice makes perfect” for a reason. Practice does make your technique perfect and good technique is essential to help you achieve your fitness goals.
Technique: Correct Form
From walking to running to weight lifting to dancing in an aerobic class, every type of exercise requires a correct form. When you perform the exercise correctly, you minimize your risk of injury while maximizing your results. By practicing correct technique you also become more aware of your own body as well as how far you can push it.
Personal trainers often advise changing your routine up about once every 12 weeks. You can get used to your workout in 12 weeks. For some it’s a little less, for some it’s a little more, so 12 weeks is our average. You hit a stage of inertia, where you are no longer gaining muscle or burning off excess fat, but just maintaining.
Your muscle development slows and then just becomes more efficient at what you are doing without further challenges. Changing your workout, spicing up the variety that you choose from whether it’s a different level of intensity or a different exercise to work similar muscle groups, can help you overcome those plateaus.
Vary Your Workout
For example, in a running program, you may change the terrain where you run, so that you can add more hills or ups and downs. 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.
You may mix up your running with fast walking to get your heart rate up to the max range you want it, increase your sweat and get the muscles burning. You want a little soreness the day after a workout. That soreness reflects the tearing of muscle fiber that must occur so that the muscles will repair and grow stronger.
Practice your technique and make your workout work for you.