One thing you can do when you start getting bored with your workout is to change the setting or place in which you do it. Always doing your workouts at the gym? Well, invest in a good pair of dumbbells or some other easily portable equipment and hit the park. Doing some of your routines outdoors and in a different environment could not only be a refreshing change, but can also stimulate some creativity on your part. Having access to different equipment (like park benches and monkey bars) can inspire your to perhaps try a few new things for a change. Are you one whe always doing outdoor sports or runs? Well, hit the gym and try taking classes instead. Changing the activity also has the potential to wake up and train a whole new set of muscles you didn't even know you had.
Stuck in the house all the time with your favorite exercise dvds? You know you know all those routines by heart now, you've been doing them for so long. Get out, buddy up with a friend and start doing power walks or park workouts. Being around other people striving to be fit can inspire you and get you off that monotonous home dvd treadmill!
All in all, change is good! It can also be what's needed to keep your energy level high and your enthusiasm for being active alive. Give it a try, folks!
All power walking is is walking for a period of time at a rapid pace. The pace can vary from a brisk, steady walk to a level that is just shy of a trot. The way to really maximize calorie burn here is to incorporate arm movements along with the walk, either emphasizing the natural opposing arm and leg motions of the walk or by even adding in arm raises, upright rows and bicep curls as you walk along, for example.
As you progress and become accustomed to longer walk times and/or faster paces, you can up the intensity even more by carrying small hand weights or by wearing strap on wrist or ankle weights. Be sure to start small with 2 to 3 lbs, possibly going just a bit higher in weight when you build up your strength and endurance. Give yourself at least a month or so with a particular weight before increasing. Power walking can be fun, effective, can burn around 400 calories per hour, and most importantly, will place little stress on joints and injuries.
A really good one to add to your lineup is the combination lunge-curl.
Stand upright with feet shoulder width apart and parallel, With a dumbbell in each hand. Step a big step forward and bend your knee into lunge position, making sure to place the knee over the heel, not the toe. As you step forward into the lunge bring both dumbbells up into bicep curl position. Then step back, allowing the weights to drop back into the start position, foot also returning to the original position. Step forward with the other foot into a lunge, curling with the dumbbells. Keep alternating right and left, double arm curling with each lunge. Do sets of these lunges or do them until reach muscle fatigue.
*You can also do these with a backwards stepping lunge.
