Mixing Things Up

To say that the human body is an amazing machine is an understatement, especially when it comes to diet and exercise. Our bodies are constantly trying to achieve a state of homeostasis. The human body over time will make adjustments to try and adapt to its current environment.

The biggest problem with sticking with the same diet and exercise plan day in and day out is that your body will eventually adapt to that plan. The goal is to make subtle changes that keep your body guessing.

Use shock principles with your workouts

There are minor changes that you can do to your workout that will drastically improve your performance. One trick that I like to use is to take comparable exercises and swap them out from week to week. For example, let's take a basic quadriceps workout. I'll group my exercises into different categories

Category A: Free weight squats, Smith machine squats
Category B: Leg press, Hack squats
Category C: Leg extensions, lunges

During week one I will use one exercise from each category. The following week I will pick a different group of exercises from my list and so on and so on. For example:

Week One: Free weight squats, Hack squats, Leg extensions
Week Two: Smith machine squats, Leg press, lunges
Week Three: Smith machine squats, Leg press, leg extensions

*Note: These are drastic changes and the changes don't have to be done every week but they do keep your workouts from becoming stale.

Another option I use in my workouts is to cycle the weight and intensity. I like to train hard and heavy for three to four weeks then do one to two weeks of lighter weight with higher repetitions. Another benefit to cycling your training intensity is that you can decrease the risk of injuries.

Tying it all together

If you notice that your workout program is no longer working for you then try mixing things up. Add a little spice to your workouts and change the tempo. You may be surprised that a few subtle changes can drastically change your workout results.

Gerald Gore is the owner of the online fitness review site One4Fitness. For more health and fitness related tips and reviews on workout equipment visit Gerald's site at http://www.one4fitness.com