5 Strategies To Help You Blast Through Workout Plateaus
Have you been working out for a period of time and now nothing seems to be changing.
You were losing weight, gaining muscle, looking more toned and over the past few weeks everything seems to have come to a standstill. Your motivation to engage in any physical activity has deteriorated not to mention even picking up a weight or going for a run.
The possibilities include you have reached a plateau with your workouts or you are over training.
Don’t worry, you are not alone, this can and does happen to many. This can occur as the body becomes too acclimated the same old routines, and the body hits a plateau.
Boredom is common when you keep doing the same workouts day in and day out, and just as your body becomes acclimated to the same workouts, so does your brain.
The following are 5 great strategies to help you boost the effectiveness of your workouts by blasting through plateaus:
1. Change your Workout
Who enjoys spending an hour running on a treadmill or sweating on an elliptical for their entire workout session, 5 times a week? While a good cardio session can indeed burn off calories and gets your heart working to help burn fat and improve your overall health, there’s no reason why your workout should seem like such a chore.
Changing your workout routine around will keep it more interesting, boost your metabolism and keep your muscles confused stimulating growth.
Tone those muscles by doing body weight exercises such as burpees, lunges and crunches to help burn calories.
Instead of using the machines switch to free weights to stimulate muscle growth.
Try participating in some exercise classes instead of pounding away on the treadmill.
2. Interval Training
Interval workouts are the most effective methods of burning calories. The next time you are on the treadmill, running, cycling or even using a cross trainer, try using intervals.
These are done by maintaining a constant and steady pace, but every few minutes, up your speed to the fastest that you can manage before returning to the steady pace again after a few more minutes.
The way this works is that your heart is constantly being driven to work hard and then starts to relax again and this constant change of heart pace means that you get a more effective workout.
3. Find the Right Workout Partner
A good workout partner has the same or similar goals, pushes you to get that one last rep, is able to workout at the same pace as you are and keeps you motivated to workout even if you are having a bad day.
If you are doing workouts that involve bodyweight exercise, free weights or using machines the partner will typically alternate doing the same exercises with you.
Try to choose a workout buddy who is either at the same or slightly higher level of fitness so that you can keep up, go further and stay motivated. This will ensure that the time you spend working out with a friend is as effective as possible.
4. Consider a Personal Trainer
While this one may seem like common sense to some, it’s surprising how many people think that they can just launch themselves into a workout routine and hope for the best.
If you know nothing about fitness, or nutrition, you’re not likely to get very far when it comes to working out. By hiring your own personal trainer, you’ll end up getting tailored assistance with your workout routine and that trainer will help you grow your workout as your fitness level grows.
Not only will they be able to tell you what will help you burn off the weight or achieve your target goals, but you will also be able to get some nutritional advice. Your diet is very important when it comes to implementing changes to your body image and this is as specific to each individual as a workout routine.
Another crucial benefit of a personal trainer when you are new to fitness is giving you the guidance needed to avoid injuring yourself. The guidance of a personal trainer is beneficial until you know your bodies limitations on how much weight you should lift or how long you should workout and not overtrain. Even what seems like the smallest injury can cause a set back resulting in your losing all that you have gained.
5. Avoid that Sitting Disease
Unless your job requires you to be up moving around on your feet most of the day you may be at risk of developing the Sitting Disease. Sitting all day can have detrimental effects on your health. Taking periodic breaks and getting up to move around will help burn even a few calories. If you have an office job where you find yourself sitting at a desk all day, try incorporating some bursts of exercise into your breaks.
You could go for a brisk walk around the block, or simply take a jump rope to work and do some skipping for 10 minutes.
If possible, get a standing desk; these are awesome new products that allow you to quickly convert your workspace to a standing area where you can work on your feet.
The more you can keep moving throughout the day, the more calories you’ll be able to burn.