As busy women, we sometimes hate “change”. When you started your last regular exercise regimen, whether it was to drop pounds or make a healthy lifestyle change, your enthusiasm level was high, high, high. Exercise may not have been the most exciting activity you’d experienced, but you definitely loved the results as you began to feel better and see the results from your hard work. The excitement had you so hyped that you managed to drag yourself out of the bed early to fit in a little gym time each day. For the first few weeks or even months, you willingly stuck with your plan without much effort.
Then, slowly but surely, the excitement and newness wears off. It becomes easier and easier to sleep in and find better things to do with your time. Suddenly, before you realize it, you have missed an entire week and your enthusiasm to continue with your physical fitness was missing in action. The good news is that you can teach yourself the signs that it’s time to shake up your workout routine so you can remain consistent and enthusiastic about exercise. Here are a few common signs that it’s time to make a change; and what you can do to get back on track:
TOP 3 SIGNS YOUR WORKOUT ISN’T WORKING
*You Are Bored with Your Workout – Walking the treadmill used to be one of your favorite things to do. So, why do you now totally dread it? It’s so easy to get bored from doing the same ol’ routine over and over again. Sometimes it helps to add variety. Some examples of spicing things up a little are to take your workout outside, change the music on your device, or grab your bestie and ask her to join you in your workout. If those changes don’t help your situation, maybe it’s time to just change things up all together.
*The Results Are Just Not There – Ladies, when you do the same type of exercise all the time, you are more likely to reach your peak much faster than someone who does a variety of workouts. Just as your mind can bore from performing the same exercises, your body can adapt to these exercises so that they don’t offer the same benefits that they once did. Changing up a bit just may be what your body needs…after all, ‘Variety is the spice of life”. You can add speed, distance, hills, resistance, etc. Changes in your routine will help keep the muscles challenged, keep your body guessing what will be next, thus granting you more workout results.
*The Workouts Are More Tiring Than Normal – Exercise is designed to give you more energy, not leaving you feeling rundown. If you are extremely tired or suddenly have overly sore muscles, you just may be overtraining your poor muscles. Your body needs time for rest and allowed time for your muscle fibers to recover. It’s during down time that you build strength and endurance by allowing your muscles to rebuild and repair. If ample recovery time is not allowed, you’ll become weaker instead of stronger. If this is you, you might need to take a week off to recharge mentally and physically. Once you start to feel better, take your time and start slowly getting back into your workout routine.
Changing your workout routine whenever these signs arise will help keep your motivation high as you work to improve your fitness level. The key is to pay close attention to how you’re feeling, both physically and mentally. Exercise shouldn’t be a chore that you dread, but something that makes you feel good about yourself!