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Workout Wednesday: Why Changing Your Routine is Important

Workout-Wednesday-Switching-it-up

We’ve all be there. That dreaded spot in our fitness life where we start to believe things aren’t going to work out like we had planned. We’re not going to hit a new PR on the treadmill, building more lean muscle seems like an unattainable goal, or we think there’s no chance of losing that last fifteen pounds. Maybe we’ve just hit a plateau and aren’t seeing results as quickly as we were before.

Getting over these feelings can be pretty hard sometimes. I don’t think I can even count how many times I wanted to just give up, quit the gym, and be a professional couch lump. Fortunately, that never happened. While quitting seems like the easiest way out, you likely already know that deep down it’s not what you really want.

Rather than quitting, complaining, or any number of other negative ways you’ve chosen to deal with this bump in the fitness road, take a quick look at what you’re doing at the gym every day. Are you completing the same exercises? Running the same two miles? Are you using the same weight machines, but with different amounts of weight?

If you answered yes to any or all of those questions, you’ll want to keep reading.

Why You Should Think About Changing Things Up

Being at the same gym and doing the same exercises and routines every day can get old—there’s no denying that. This feeling of things getting old is a negative feeling, and negativity—especially at regularly high levels—can have a pretty big effect on your fitness and exercise goals.

If you’re committed to reaching your fitness goals, it’s always a good idea to make changes in your daily workout routine. Ditching that negativity is important, but it doesn’t mean you have to do a complete overhaul of your routines or fitness goals.

Take a look at the following suggestions for fitness routine change-ups:

  • Make a few small tweaks. Simple. small changes can make a big difference in the end. Try increasing the number of reps you complete, or setting a faster pace goal if you’re running. You might not think these changes will do much, but they are accelerating your progress.
  • Give your program variety. The same routine over and over again takes the fun and excitement right out of fitness. Don’t let that happen. When you add a variety of exercises to your daily routine, you’re giving your body new things to work through. By using a new weight machine, adding an incline to your treadmill run, or even taking your workout to nature can be the inspiration you need to keep going.
  • Work different muscle groups. One of the easiest ways to injure yourself is by repeating the same exercises day after day. When you work the same muscles and joints repeatedly, you’re not letting them heal properly, which can often lead to injury. Make this simple change: Work different muscle groups each day. This tweak is huge when it comes to avoiding injuries.
  • Stop exhausting yourself. This should be a simple change. The most important thing for you to remember is that you don’t have to kill yourself in every workout for it to be effective. When you make your workouts fun and challenging without being hard on your body, you’ll see more of a benefit than you were expecting—physically and mentally.
  • Make your routines exciting and challenging. For many people, workouts are great at first, but then as time moves on, they become another thing to dread every day. That’s not how your workouts should be. Ever. If you’re beginning to hate the idea of working out and going to the gym, take some time to think about what you’re doing. Switch things up! Ass exercises that you find fun and challenging. Get yourself amped back up to work out every day. When you approach a workout with a positive attitude, you’ll see better results.
  • Fit your routines to your fitness goals—even if they’re changing. Fitness goals can constantly change. Maybe you’ve lost that fifteen pounds and now you want to build more muscle. Do it! Change is a part of life (especially fitness life), and it’s important to roll with it. As your goals change, make sure you’re changing your routines to meet those goals.

The Bottom Line

While you put in a lot of work to achieve your fitness goals, your workouts should never feel like work. It’s much easier to hit your goals when your workouts are filled with variety, excitement, and fun. Change things up as often as possible, and you’ll see the difference those changes can make.

Have you been switching things up in the new year? How are those changes working for you? We’d love to hear your stories! Please leave us a comment below.