It’s that time of year when you realize you did too much online shopping while snowed in leaving you with more clothes and house “must haves” than you need, while letting the dust bunnies build up which now show as you open the window to let that spring sun shine bright in your house. Which can only mean one thing… Time to spring clean!! But have you ever thought about cleaning out your workout routine? It’s easy to get into a habit of exercise, but it’s important to change it up frequently and we are here to help you do just that! Here are some tips to help you become your best self!
1. Shock Your System!
Did you know your body can actually get used to doing the same workout routine? Consistently switching up your workout routine can leave your body in a “shock” which helps the muscles to not become complacent. We prefer to completely change up your routine every 6 weeks!
- Changing what body parts you work on each day
- How many days a week you exercise
- Hitting a new muscle group twice a week instead of once
This is something you should try to plan out ahead of time, so you can keep your routine organized and prepare as best as you can!
2. Less Is More (Sometimes)
Are you actively changing up your weight, number of reps, and how many sets you’re doing? We recommend a weekly change up! There might be a week where you move up in weight and lessen the amount of reps you do in each set, and there might be a time that you’re body needs a break and you lessen your weight but do more reps and more sets.
Listening to your body is very important when switching up your exercises, it is completely fine to have slower weeks where your body needs to rest. Here are a couple of different sets and reps you can switch up:
- 3 sets of 6-8 (Typically done with a heavier weight, you want to really push yourself on these)
- 4 sets of 15-20 (Typically done with lighter weight)
3. Low Reps vs High Reps
Bouncing off of our last point, lets talk about the importance and difference between low reps and high reps:
- Higher reps means focusing on the muscles themselves. Slowing down on your movement while increasing the reps will no doubt help you build muscle mass. However, spending too much time here will make your body adapt to your training in this weight which brings us to lower reps!
- Lower reps works on making your nervous system more efficient. By switching from 10 reps down to 3, you shock your body into unfamiliar stressors. During this time you will want to increase your weight this will help trigger muscle fibers and will help your body turn off opposing muscle groups.
4. Utilizing All Aspects Of Your Gym Membership
If you’re a member of TFC, then you know we offer a wide variety of options when it comes to your workout routine. Whether you’re feeling stuck or not sure where to start in your fitness journey, group classes are a great way to change up your routine! We offer many different types of classes all equipped to challenge a beginner to an expert. You can always see what classes are available each month on our website or by picking up a schedule in the facility.
