Change up your fitness plan
The more you do something the easier it becomes, and that’s certainly the case with exercise. Every time you repeat an activity your body is improving it’s ability to handle that stress. This means you burn fewer calories and build less muscle with every workout. If you want to keep making progress you need to keep introducing new activity.
How frequently do you exercise?
The first factor influencing how often you need to make a change is how frequently you do a particular exercise activity. If you’re doing your weights program three times per week you’ll need it updated more often than if you’re doing it once per week plus two classes. It’s the number of times you do the program, not the number of weeks you do it for.
What's your fitness level?
Factor number two is your level of fitness. If you’re new to exercise it will take your body more time to adapt. Your muscles will need longer to get used to the load and your brain will need time to learn the new movement patterns. The fitter you are the more you need to challenge yourself to make continued progress.
How's your general health?
Factor number three is your general health. If your body is in a stressed state then you may not be equipped to adapt to higher loads, you’ll end up in an overtrained state going backwards not forwards. A stressed state could mean a personal crisis, a large load at work, recovering from an illness or experiencing sleep difficulties. If all is not well then you’re better off keeping a familiar program than trying to tackle something new.
What sort of change are you contemplating?
Factor number four determining how often to change an exercise regime is the degree of the change. Putting up the weights on your gym program is a much gentler change than adding a class you’ve never done to your fitness regime.
What's your exercise temperament?
Factor five is your exercise temperament. Everyone has a unique biotype and personality. If you are a creature of habit there’s no point in pressuring yourself to adapt to constant changes. You’ll just get frustrated that you never seem to master the exercises. Equally, if you’re somebody who enjoys variety you will get bored quickly if you don’t change it up a lot.
In many ways program design is as much an art as a science. The right balance of predictability and unpredictability will give you a program that is enjoyable as well as effective. If you've decided it's time to amend your routine you can check out this article on your four options for changing it up.
How frequently do you exercise?
The first factor influencing how often you need to make a change is how frequently you do a particular exercise activity. If you’re doing your weights program three times per week you’ll need it updated more often than if you’re doing it once per week plus two classes. It’s the number of times you do the program, not the number of weeks you do it for.
What's your fitness level?
Factor number two is your level of fitness. If you’re new to exercise it will take your body more time to adapt. Your muscles will need longer to get used to the load and your brain will need time to learn the new movement patterns. The fitter you are the more you need to challenge yourself to make continued progress.
How's your general health?
Factor number three is your general health. If your body is in a stressed state then you may not be equipped to adapt to higher loads, you’ll end up in an overtrained state going backwards not forwards. A stressed state could mean a personal crisis, a large load at work, recovering from an illness or experiencing sleep difficulties. If all is not well then you’re better off keeping a familiar program than trying to tackle something new.
What sort of change are you contemplating?
Factor number four determining how often to change an exercise regime is the degree of the change. Putting up the weights on your gym program is a much gentler change than adding a class you’ve never done to your fitness regime.
What's your exercise temperament?
Factor five is your exercise temperament. Everyone has a unique biotype and personality. If you are a creature of habit there’s no point in pressuring yourself to adapt to constant changes. You’ll just get frustrated that you never seem to master the exercises. Equally, if you’re somebody who enjoys variety you will get bored quickly if you don’t change it up a lot.
In many ways program design is as much an art as a science. The right balance of predictability and unpredictability will give you a program that is enjoyable as well as effective. If you've decided it's time to amend your routine you can check out this article on your four options for changing it up.