The reason most people stop exercising after a couple of months after the new year(or anytime, really), is because they eventually reach a point when they stop seeing results.
This is most likely because they have continued doing the same thing as when they first started, without ever changing it up or making it more challenging. Our bodies are very smart machines. When they get used to doing the same thing over and over, they eventually adapt to it and no longer have to work as hard to do it. Therefore, you don't burn as many calories doing that same activity.
What may have challenged you in the beginning is not going to remain challenging as your body gets stronger and more conditioned. If you started out walking every day for 30 minutes, eventually that is not going to be a challenging enough stimulus for your body to produce results.
What most people fail to do in their exercise program is to continually make it harder, to make sure that their body is staying challenged. It's about constant, neverending improvement and progress-you can't just do the same thing over and over for months on end.
When you’ve stopped seeing results, it means that it’s time to up the intensity. Here are some simple ways you can do that:
*If you've been walking on the treadmill, start walking on an incline-and NO holding on to the rails!!
*If you've been walking on an incline, try adding in some jogging intervals-jog for 20-30 seconds, walk for 30-60 seconds, and repeat for 15 minutes.
*If you’ve only been doing one or 2 sets of all your exercises, add in another set
*Lift heavier-get out of the 12-15 rep zone, and start doing 8-10 reps with a heavier weight
*Increase you weights if you’re doing more than 12 reps on an exercise
*Try to beat last week’s reps-if you did 8 reps on an exercise, try to get 9 next time, or do an extra set with the same weight and reps
*Do harder exercises-instead of bicep curls and tricep kickbacks, try overhead presses, pushups, and back squats with weight
*If you've been resting between every exercise for all your sets, try supersets. Pick 2 exercises for opposite muscle groups and perform them back to back with no rest.
Your workouts should never be easy! Find ways to make them harder and keep trying to challenge yourself! As you continue to get fitter and stronger, the physical results will come, as long as your nutrition is on track as well!
Your workouts should never be easy! Find ways to make them harder and keep trying to challenge yourself! As you continue to get fitter and stronger, the physical results will come, as long as your nutrition is on track as well!
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