In a Rut? Mix it Up!

Do you ever feel like no matter how many miles you run, or how many crunches you do, you just aren’t getting the same results as when you first started? You started out seeing the pounds and inches fall off, but now you have “hit a plateau.” Or, maybe you are just bored with the same old loop you run around your neighborhood? Don’t worry we have all been there!

When performing exercises your muscles alter their physiological and neurological properties. In other words, your muscles change in order to achieve the desired movements with the least amount of resistance or effort. The first few times you perform an exercise, it challenges your muscles and causes change, such as building muscle fibers, increasing speed of reaction time, or stabilizing a joint. After doing the same exercises over and over, your muscles adapt to the now familiar movement, which decreases the effort required to perform it. You are no longer getting as much “bang for your buck”, since you aren’t burning as many calories to achieve the same movement as the first time you did it.

What should you do? Mix it up! There are so many ways to change your routine to keep your muscles – and your mind – challenged. Running? Try doing intervals. Resistance training? Try increasing the weight, decreasing your rest time between sets, or performing new exercises. Tabata/HIIT workouts? Try increasing your intensity. Or, try something new altogether! Each of these will change the way your body reacts to a workout and keep you challenged mentally as well.

One of the best parts of Stroller Strength is that you can always find a “partner in crime” for whatever new way you want to challenge yourself. Triathlon anyone?