Change The Scenery

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!

Power Walking

For some, high impact and very intense exercise might not be an option due to injuries, health issues or being extremely overweight. Sharp or sudden impact on the joints or on othe parts of the body can be painful and might possibly cause even more injury. In these cases, power walking can be a great and effective solution that is also safe.

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.

Lunge Curls

One of the best ways to get some good, effective strength training in is to combine exercises. Not only is the work load increased due to more muscle groups being utilized during the ask, but this also a more efficient way to exercise and can save you some time on the workout.

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.

Go Bananas, Baby!

Yeah, another one of those "super fruits". You've probably been eating them since before you even had teeth, and lucky that you did. Bananas are a rich source of vitamins A, B and C, as well as being loaded with potassium, phosphorus, iron and fiber. What does that mean to you? Crazy energy, a boost to the immune system, eye and blood support, among other things. Aside from that, they just taste good, dammit. We LOVE bananas! Don't forget to include them in your regular diet!

When You Hit The Wall...

...better known as reaching a plateau or topping out, you begin to feel like your exercise efforts are not paying off the way they used to. You're still rocking out that same routine and even hitting it much stronger and with more intensity than you did when you started out, but still, no more visible results like you used to get in the beginning.

If it's weight you're trying to lose, the scale seems to stay stuck on the same number for weeks on end, and if you're trying to gain mass or get more definition, you can quite clearly see that those muscles just aren't getting any bigger or any more cut. You add in an extra workout day a week, and still, nothing. What the hell is going on??

Well, I already mentioned that you've plateaued with your workout. What is a plateau? That's when your body and muscles become acclimated to the particular tasks you put upon them, ie, your exercise regimen. No matter what type of activity you do, sooner or later, you'll find that it's gotten less strenuous and thus requires less of your effort. Less effort = less results. You end up in a "maintaining mode". What to do here? Change things up. Add some completely different exercises and activities into your lineup. Do workouts that challenge different muscles and work the ones that you've been training via some other methods. They need a new type of stimulation, and changing things up is just the thing that will do it. Once you do that, you will soon get back to seeing the changes in your body and the results that you stay working so hard for.

Office Workout #1

Okay, so here you are with one of the busiest jobs on the planet and a mean as hell, ridiculously unreasonable boss who will barely let you out the door long enough to grab some lunch, much less a workout. you have food delivered in that you eat right at your desk, Sometimes it's good, and sometimes it's not so good. Hell, with all of the stress you experience in this job daily, a little comfort food now and then really isn't a bad thing -- it's a coping mechanism! The upshot of that is that your waist is starting to get thicker, that belly of yours is becoming a BELLY, and your overall body tone is beginning to resemble that of Play Doh. Running out to catch a lunchtime class at the area gym is out of the question. yet, you know by looking at your jiggling thighs and that getting softer by the minute butt that you need to do something, and fast.

Well, office workouts that can be done right there in your cubicle or office are the ticket for you. We will put together a workout using just your body weight, your chair and some light to medium weight dumbbells (buy a pair and lock them in your desk drawer!).

Today's office workout will target the triceps, quad, hamstrings, biceps, glutes and shoulders on your desk or any sturdy structure at least 3 feet tall that you can lean your entire body weight on.

Using the desk, or a non rolling chair we'll do tricep dips
using your chair we'll also do squats
using your dumbbells, we'll work triceps and shoulders

The set:

10 to 15 tricep dips
15 to 20 squats (stand up from your chair and take a big step forward. Keeping your back straight, chest up, lower your butt until it's almost touching the seat. then stand back up, giving your glutes a squeeze while doing so.
20 bicep curls
20 lat raises
Do 3 sets of each

Have a towel and water handy. You're going to need it! And if you can close your office door for privacy, by all means do. Nothing worse than nosy coworkers looking in and distracting you with idle chit chat. Also, if you choose the lunch hours to do this, you're less likely to get interrupted, as many of your coworkers will be out to lunch. Get it in, get it done, tyrant of a boss be damned!

Tricep Dips

Use your office chair or any sturdy structure at least 3 feet tall that you can lean your entire body weight on. Facing away from the chair, brace your self of the edge with your palms facing back, fingers forward. Balancing your weight on both hands, with your back straight, walk both feet a few steps forward until the legs are pretty much straight, but knees still soft, and then begin lowering your butt below the surface of the chair. Your butt and back should be no more than two to three inches away from the chair as you lower. Go down until both elbows are bent to almost a 90 degree angle. From the lowest point, use your arm strength to begin lifting your body back up until arms are straight. The up motion counts as one rep. Lower your butt below the surface of the chair again and follow with the lift. keep your elbows tucked in and pointing back, not out to the sides. Do as many reps as you can. Up, down, up, down, up, down...

Arms of steel will soon be yours...