How to Increase Your Fitness Gains
By Isaiah David
When you first start exercising, it is exciting. You can feel your body getting stronger every day as you run faster and longer and lift more. After a while, however, you can feel a plateau. It feels like you aren't getting anywhere, and the exercises become a monotonous and uninspiring routine. If you want to increase your fitness gains further, you will have to rethink and redesign your workout.
Instructions
Difficulty: Moderately Easy
Work out with a friend. It can be hard to really push yourself to increase your fitness gains when it feels like you have plateaued. If you have a friend with you, however, you can encourage each other to take things to the next level.
Try using different exercises. Your body can get used to a particular routine, making it harder to get real benefit from it. By varying both your aerobic and strength training exercises, you can keep your body working.
Change the way you do the exercises. For example, you can try increasing the weight you lift and doing shorter sets. If you jog for 25 minutes, try running more quickly for 10 minutes, walking five minutes and running for another 10.
Try exercising first thing in the morning. It is easy to feel rushed and preoccupied during a lunchtime workout, or dragged out and exhausted if you wait until you get off of work to exercise. If you start first thing in the morning, your will be fresh, your mind will be clear, and you will have the energy to dedicate to your workout.
Add an extra day to your fitness routine. Sometimes, just one more workout can push you beyond that plateau into further fitness gains.
About The Author
Isaiah David is a freelance writer and musician living in Portland, Ore. He has nearly five years' experience as a professional writer and has been published on various online outlets. He holds a degree in creative writing from the University of Michigan.
