Variety is the Spice of Life!
Variety is important in many areas of our lives. It is important for our psychological well-being to interact with different people, have an assortment of friends, attend plays and movies, travel to different places, etc. It is important for our health to eat a variety of healthy foods. This not only enhances our enjoyment of food, but it helps our bodies to obtain an array of vitamins, minerals, and other vital nutrients. We are even advised to diversify our investment portfolios! Equally important is creating a variance in your workout routine. Creating exercise habits is important and it’s easy to get into a habit of doing the same class, running the same loop, walking your dog around the same block, etc. Don’t get me wrong, if you’re in the habit of doing an exercise routine every day, you should definitely be proud of yourself for sticking with it. This is hard to do! But here are 4 tips on adding variety to your daily routine and 3 important reasons to break out and try some new things.
Easy ways to mix it up:
If you always do cardio 1st and follow with strength, try switching it around. Instead, warm up on a different cardio mode for 5 minutes, do your strength exercises and then end with your cardio.
Try doing your regular strength routine, but do it backwards. Start at the last exercise and work your way to the beginning. This may seem very simple, but it really does require your muscles to work in a different order and will make you work harder. If you only do cardio, add strength. If you only do strength exercises, add a good cardio routine to get your heart rate up for a minimum of 20-30 minutes.
Try new strength or cardio exercises. If you’re not sure exactly how to do this, consult with a fitness professional. Many gyms offer 2 free personal training sessions when you join. Take advantage of these! For cardio, swim instead of walk. Try elliptical instead of the bike. Add yoga once a week! The possibilities are endless.
Are you a runner or walker? Try running your regular route in the opposite direction. Run a new route through town. Or better yet, get out of town and run or walk in the mountains or hills nearby! Challenge yourself and change the scenery.
Reasons to add variety:
Burn more calories and break through your weight loss plateau: Our bodies are very efficient in conserving energy, ie calories and fat. Once the body gets used to performing a certain type of exercise, it becomes easier and our bodies do not have to work as hard to do it. Challenging our muscles in new ways results in
Overcome workout boredom: Let’s face it, when you do the same thing over and over again, it can become tedious and boring, no matter what area of your life it is. The same holds true for workouts. If you always do the same thing, you may tend to get tired of it. Keep your interest sparked and try new things. Go dancing, try a new class at the gym, try a new sport altogether! You may end up finding a new activity that you didn’t know you liked, giving you reasons to keep trying even more new things!
Avoid or Recover from an Injury: Many injuries occur as the result of overuse. By varying your modes of exercise you may be able to avoid an injury from the beginning. Similarly, if you are recovering from an injury, and this is preventing you from doing your typical exercise, you may be able utilize an alternative mode. For instance, if you’re rehabilitating a foot injury, the pool may be a great alternative to walking. Many times it just takes a little bit of creativity.
Meet New People: When you begin a new activity, you will inevitably meet new people. These people may have similar health and wellness goals and these are excellent people to surround yourself to reach your goals.
The bottom line is, there are as many reasons to mix up your workout as there are ways to do it. Get out there and have some fun! That’s what life is all about!!
