By DAVID TEPERA | Posted: Wednesday, November 5, 2014
Have you been working out a few months or more, and your body isn’t making any improvements? During the first few months, you were losing weight, getting sore muscles and dropping dress and belt sizes. Now, nothing seems to be happening. Are you stuck and getting frustrated?
This happens to all of us, and the answer is somewhat simple. Your body has adjusted to your workouts, met the demands you placed upon it, and has settled.
You can’t keep doing the same routine over and over. You have to play tricks on your body which forces it to continually adjust.
For cardio, find at least three different types of exercises and regularly change it up. Each week, pick a different cardio exercise like treadmill, bike, speed walk, stair climber, Precor and others. Get your heart rate up where you feel it beating in your chest.
For weightlifting, change the order of muscle groups in your routine, use different machines and free weights, use heavy weights one week and the following week use light weights with high repetition.
Confuse your body with variety of workouts and it will continually make changes.
This will get you out of a rut, plus it’s a lot more fun. We are all creatures of habit, and making changes throws us out of our comfort zone. That’s why us older folks struggle with all the new technology in the world. By the way, when did Etch-a-Sketch turn into iPads?
You have one life. This is no dress rehearsal. Every day needs to be a step closer to your goals, no matter your age. Don’t throw in the towel on life — use it to wipe off sweat. Challenge yourself today, step out of your comfort zone and make a difference in you and the people around you.