6 Ways to Improve Your Fitness Routine

A lot of people experience their results slowing down or stunting after a certain amount of time doing the same fitness routine. This can be very frustrating as you are working hard and reluctant to see any actual results. Or, you can be like many others who lose passion for their routine workouts and don’t do them with the same vigor that they once used to. Whatever your current case, there are several ways you can improve your fitness routine and your progress. The following are 6 ways you can improve your fitness routine.

Focus on Form

Having the incorrect form is a common mistake that most people make when they exercise. You may have great form during one exercise and very poor form in another. Having poor form not only increases the risk for injuring one’s body, but it also decreases the effectiveness of a workout. Always aim t practice and achieve good posture during workouts so that you can target all of the muscles you are supposed to. You’ll notice better progress this way as you are working more efficiently and exerting less of your energy to complete your routines.

Know When to Take a Break

It’s important not to push yourself too hard in anything that you do. Listen and be in tune with your body. There is a saying that says, “what doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger”. This is not always the case especially if your fitness routine includes bodybuilding. It’s okay to be inspired by seeing results. However, some people tend to believe that working out as much as possible will produce faster and greater results. The issue is not exercising daily but working out the same muscle groups every day denies those muscles to go through the rebuilding process. Normally, when you are weight lifting or weight training, the muscle rips and uses the nutrients from the food you eat to rebuild itself. This is why a break is necessary and that’s not to say you can’t work out every day. Just work out different muscle groups each day or every other day you do your routine. 

Don’t Obsess Over Results

Keeping track of your fitness progress is fine and actually quite beneficial in using as a guideline to gauge if you are staying on track with your health goals. Your motivation can be seeing the physical improvements in your body, but be sure that you don’t become obsessive with your fitness as it can result in very unhealthy dietary practices and overexerting yourself exercising. A neurological effect of obsessing on physical results can present itself as an eating disorder which is obsessing over food ( NEDA, n.d.). Mentally, people who do this think they are going to get faster results, but don’t realize the internal damage it can cause when you are starving yourself or fasting without a physician’s approval. 

Challenge Your Muscles

Building muscles don’t equate to bodybuilding. Some individuals are afraid to lift heavy weights as they believe it will make them appear ‘too bulky’ which just so happens to be another misconception. Building muscle will greatly benefit those seeking to lose fat as muscle helps you to burn fat at a faster rate. In fact, 10 pounds of muscle would burn 50 calories daily while resting, 30 calories more than 10 pounds of fat would burn while at rest. 

Exercise in Quick Spurts

There are added benefits to exercising in quick spurts. You can do this by working out throughout the day doing intervals of exercise at a fast rate. HIIT or High-Intensity Interval Training is another way you can incorporate quick spurts into your fitness routine. HIIT requires you to do an interval of intense fast-paced exercise followed by short recovery periods. So, you may sprint as fast as you can for 30 seconds and then walk for 15 seconds, doing this for a complete total of 15-30 minutes. HIIT is better than regular cardio because it increases the metabolic rate so that you are burning more calories even after your workout.

Give Yourself Variety

To ensure that you aren’t getting bored with your fitness routine, incorporate some different exercises in your workout regime. Doing the same thing every day can be repetitious and monotonous to the extent that motivation is being lost. A workout that keeps you mentally stimulated and engaged is what you should aim for. So, taking a Zumba class is a great idea if you enjoy dancing or simply go outdoors for a hike to experience some different scenery.