7 Offbeat Ways To Take Your Fitness Levels Up A Notch
When we first start working out, we are so committed and motivated. We slowly make exercise part of our routine while enjoying the process. After a while the first results are visible, we feel lighter, stronger and energized. But, after some time and effort, things turn a bit stagnant. It might even feel like you’re not making any progress at all. When our exercise routine falls into a rut, it’s time to take our fitness levels up a notch.
Superset your routine
Supersets can be a great addition to your regular routine if you perform them properly. Moreover, supersets can make your workouts more efficient and take you out of a rut. The superset is when you perform two different exercises in a row without any rest in between. To illustrate it better, you can superset deadlifts with reverse lunges. Do 12 repetitions of the deadlift and then continue with 12 reverse lunges on both sides. And that’s one superset. Aim to repeat this at least three times before moving to a different exercise. This novelty to your routine will jumpstart your progress and help burn more calories.
Pay attention to your form
If you are just going through the motions so that you can finish earlier than you won’t focus on the form. You’ll just breeze through series of repetitions and run home without breaking a sweat. Going through motions as quickly as possible won’t contract the right muscles or any muscles at all. Each time you contract a muscle, you make that muscle work. When you work your muscles, you’ll achieve results. If you don’t, then you hit a rut. Pay attention to the mind-muscle connection if you want to take your fitnes up a notch.
Do cardio differently
First of all, too much cardio is never advised. It is a great way to supplement your workouts. But, you shouldn’t make cardio sessions your only workout. If you want to build muscles, decrease body fat, look leaner and fitter, don’t overdo cardio. Also, if you keep repeating the same cardio routine all the time, your muscles will get used to it. Instead, do a different cardio routine each time you want to include some aerobic movement. You can ride a bike, walk on an incline, try spinning the elliptical or use a rowing machine. Change the difficulty, tempo, and length to kick start your fitness progress.
Supplement your routine with a complimentary exercise
Sometimes you need to complement your regular exercise routine with a completely different kind of exercise. If you base your workout on strength training, maxing your reps and building your body carefully at the gym, you should try pilates. Pilates can engage those muscles you don’t normally do. In turn, this can only improve your progress. Pilates for beginners can provide great benefits as it will include some novelty into your fitness routine.
Add variety into the mix
This is especially important for regular gym goers - add variety into the mix to get out of a rut. If you base your workouts on dumbbells only, you will easily get stuck in your routine. Muscles adapt easily so you have to vary the resistance and volume to stress the muscles differently in order to progress. Even if you do this, it might not be enough for you to get out of a rut. You can use machines at the gym in your routine as well. Even when you do the exact workout, you will put a different type of stress on the muscles and achieve greater results. For the ultimate results, combine both and vary your routine so zou can include both free weights and machines in your routine.
Recover properly
When you work out all the time, you’re actually sacrificing your results so you can just tell yourself that you try so hard. Working out all the time without any recovery time can only hinder your results. Our muscles need proper sleep and proper rest between sessions so they can repair in order to grow. Plan your weekly workouts with recovery time in mind.
Eat right
If your main goal is to tone up a bit and decrease body fat percentage, you need to adjust your diet. You can’t just eat whatever comes to hand and you feel like eating at the moment. You need to plan your meals around your workout and properly fuel before and after your workout. The effort you make at the gym is only 20% of your results. To get to that 100%, you need to give proper attention to the remaining 80% which is your diet.
Once you reevaluate your current workout routine with our tips in mind, you’ll easily realize which part of your routine can be changed. Change it according to our tips, try to include them all and you’ll kickstart your progress again.
