|
Author: Mubarakah Ibrahim Article source: http://www.health-spot.info/. Used with author's permission.
How to Break Your Plateau
Today is a typical morning like any other for you. You get up, go for your workout at the gym or go for a nice run, before you start your day. Or maybe you go from work to the gym to jump on the treadmill for 40 minutes then home. No matter when you fit your workout in, you are to be commended you've stuck to it. SO why isn't the weight coming off like it did when you first started your new workout routine. Everything is the same. Cardio 3 to 5 days a week. Weight training 2 to 3 days a week. Your diet is still in tack (despite the PMS breakdown in the chocolate abyss). If you are still doing everything the same and you can't seem to drop those last 10 lbs then you can't drop those last 10 lbs because you are still doing everything the same. (I know I just reverse the sentence but read it again and you'll catch on if you didn't the first time.)
Your body is a wonderfully efficient machine. Everything from your head to your toes adapt to your environment, your activities and your lifestyle. Your exercise regimen is no different.
Here is the scenario.
Your Story...
You began the new year with a new found dedication to running. After all, you need to drop those extra pounds. So you go for a 45 minute run 5 days a week and weight train in the gym 2 times a week. In January and February the pounds fell off. You consistently left 2 even 4 lbs some weeks, chocking on your dust as you laughed your way all the way to the clothing store. But here we are in April and the scale hasn't moved since the beginning of March. What happened?
Your Body's Story…
When you began your program, your body worked hard to keep up with the new intensity and duration of your exercise regimen. As a result it burned energy (calories/fat) to keep up. Then one day as it accompanied you out the door and began picking up speed, then it said to it's self. Oh I've done this plenty of times before. In fact I am good. I am so good at this now that instead of burning 200 calories on this run, I can do the same run and only burn 150 calories. So it runs with you and indeed it proved that it could do the same activity and burn less calories doing it. Your body has succeeded in doing what it does best...become efficient.
Ah ha! Eureka! Now you know. So what to do about it. Throw your body a surprise party and call it Cross training. Cross training is a great way to condition different muscle groups, develop a new set of skills, and reduce boredom that creeps in after months of the same exercise routines. The term cross training refers to a training routine that involves several different forms of exercise, and/or exercise intensity levels.
Get up tomorrow and instead of running for 45 minutes, jump on the bike and take a spin. Instead of doing 45 minutes of a moderate intensity run. Kick it up a notch and do 20 minutes of intense interval training (fartlek run will do as well) Providing different challenges in a workout forces the body to move out of its comfort zone and the body must work harder to complete the activity… Resulting in more calorie burn. More eating the dust off from the bottom of your shoes as you leave those pound behind. But that's not the only benefit of cross training. If sports are your passion cross training can actually help you prevent injury and overuse syndrome. For most sports enthusiasts, cross-training is a beneficial training method for maintaining a high level of overall fitness and that's not all Cross Training
Reduces exercise boredom
Allows you to be flexible about you training needs and plans (if the pool is closed, you can go for a run instead).
Produces a higher level of all around conditioning
Conditions the entire body, not just specific muscle groups
Reduces the risk of injury
Work some muscles while others rest and recover
Can continue to train while injured
Improves your skill, agility and balance Mubarakah Ibrahim is an AFAA certified personal trainer and owner of BALANCE fitness, a personal training service for women in CT that offers in-home personal training, on-line personal training, outdoor boot camps, and hiking clubs for women. She is the creator of http://www.ctwomenbootcamps.com She also lectures, promotes and conducts workshops on health and fitness through out the northeast. She can be contacted by visiting her website http://www.balanceCT.com or e-mailed at balanceCT@hotmail.com
© BALANCE fitness
Article may be reprinted without permission only in it's entirety including author bio and contact information.
10 Packaging Tips That Will Make Consumers Buy Your Product
The customer is king/queen. We have all heard this mantra. It's up to you, the supplier, to prove it so. With these ten tips you will be a lot closer to proving...
What are Some Benefits For Quitting Smoking?
Are there any immediate benefits for quitting smoking?
Creating Unity In Your Company
The other day I got a call from a friend of mine about an
earlier conversation we'd had. Here's what we talked about:
Years before he had started a company whic...
Importance of Keywords - Wrong Keywords Means No Traffic!
Make sure that you know what keywords your potential customers are actually searching for.
How Professional Property Investors Interpret and Use Capital Growth Statistics
Understanding and using yearly price growth statistics in an area of interest is critical to making successful property investments decisions.
Should I Get A Coach?
Why should or would someone hire a life coach? Well, why would anyone purchase the services of a personal trainer, and interior designer or a sports coach - any...
Improving Your Financial Position
If you want money you need to learn how to control it. You need to improve your financial education and build your discipline. I am going to reveal to you how y...
Passionate About Writing?
Programmers and Writers have a lot in common. They both struggle for the magic moments of creativity. This article covers the process that works for me when I ...
Dont Allow Hackers to Take Out Money from Your Bank Account
If you know what is the 'Fishing' then it's very easy
to understand the definition of 'Phishing'. Just
replace letter 'F' from the word Fishing with 'Ph'.
Yes I...
Battling Childhood Obesity through Smart Eating
Finally, a positive solution regarding America's difficult and costly campaign to stem childhood obesity is emerging. For the thousands of children and their f...
Manage Algae
Find out the best ways to manage algae in your backyard pond.
Life Energy
A new tool called the Mind Resonance Process(TM) is beginning to reveal the extent to which negative elements (i.e. negative beliefs, emotions, perceptions and ...
Internet & Mortgage Calculations
"You've been approved!" The words you have always wanted to hear when you filled out the home loan application. It swirls through your mind the opportunities an...
Coming to Jesus
I believe that we all can live forever if we believe in Gods word and apply it to our daily existence. We can no longer as Christians live our lives next t...
Problem-Solving Success Tip: Use Your Time for Problems that are Truly Important
Hard as it may be to walk away once you're aware of it, just because a problem is there doesn't mean you have to solve it. Find out ways to decide if the proble...
Dieting - Healthy Dieting Tips
Here are some healthy dieting tips to help you change your eating habits so that you can keep the extra weight off in a long term way.
How to Use a Home Equity Line of Credit Calculator
There is luckily a very helpful tool that will take the guess work out of home equity loans. Before you commit to anything, you should play around with a home e...
7 Year Tribulation
Everyone has heard what is the great tribulation but what exactly is it? Come read this article and find out exactly what will happen during these 7 years.
Sometimes, It Just Takes ONE Conversation to Change Your Life!
Sometimes it's just one person, one conversation, one new idea that can influence and change a persons' life. That's why coaching is so great and so powerful!
Retirement Is A Scary Proposition If Youre Without A Plan, And Running Out Of Time
Only education and strategic investment can net you the returns needed to have a safety net in place so that when you retire, you are not stuck in a constant mo...
Procrastination. Id love to but...
You know you need to do it. So why don't you? What keeps you from action? You can shift your perspective as easy as 1-2-3.
Mechanical Poetry
Don't just sit there waiting for inspiration. Use some simple techniques for creating poetry right now.
Retesting the Top
The S&P 500 is making a third attempt to test a multi-year resistance level in the low 1,250s.
Your Guide to the Archangels
An angel can be your best friend. Angels have been known respond to prayers that contain the phrase "Hey, somebody, anybody up there HELP!!!"
but they come quic...
|
Print this page