Do you find yourself dressed in workout clothes, languidly slouching on a couch, eating Bon Bons, while watching reruns of 80s sitcoms, unwilling to begin the day's workout?
Sometimes even the best fitness routines become boring. Mental stagnation in your workout routine is often accompanied by a fitness plateau. Your body adapts to an exercise program, limiting gains and escalating frustration. It's time for a change. These suggestions from 3Birds Template for keeping your workout routine fresh and exciting are easy to implement and lead to improved mental and physical health.
- Change exercises: Duh! Everybody knows the best way to change something is to change something. Instead of jogging, swim. Instead of swimming, jog. Use different machines at the gym. Try circuit training. Do something different!
- Hire a personal trainer: It's their job to know about fitness. Don't just hire the first one you find or the one that looks best in spandex. Conduct interviews. Look at their credentials. Most personal trainers take classes to stay on top of the latest fitness trends. Ask for a reduced fee or free session to gauge competence. Most athletic clubs offer free sessions with a personal trainer when you sign up.
- Find a workout buddy: A workout buddy provides mental stimulation and another eager exerciser. Finding someone at or just above your level provides incentive to pick up the pace. Finding a workout buddy that hides from you when it's time to exercise, although challenging at first, can also become tedious.
- Join an athletic club: Working out with fit people motivates. Be sure to have established the habit of exercise, however, before you plop down your hard earned cash for a gym membership.
- Buy new clothes: Remember when you were a kid and got new shoes and automatically assumed you could jump higher, so you went around showing everybody how high you could jump? Buying new exercise clothes has the same effect.
- Upgrade the equipment: Remember when you bought new exercise clothes and you automatically assumed you could exercise better? An equipment upgrade has the same effect. You don't need to spend thousands of dollars. It could be anything--new pair of weightlifting gloves, new shoes, or a new bike.
- Change the songs in your iPod: Rocking out to AC/DC can only take you so far. A change in music may give you the boost you've been looking for.
