One of the most common ways to stay active is to enjoy what you are doing and make it fun , exciting and challenging. Colorado residents have an easy time of it with all the outdoor activities right in their backyard, and other states have many fun resources as well, you just have to look and stay creative with your thinking.
Exercising outdoors is not the only way to keep things spiced up and challenging, you can also push your limits in the gym as well to keep you coming back week after week for that challenge. Great news…there are a few things you can do to to keep things interesting!
A stagnant routine is a good way to kill your results as well as your waistline, and a sure way to hit a plateau in your quest for success. Try increasing your weights in the gym and shorten your rest periods between sets. Studies show that those resting less than 60 seconds between sets burn significantly more calories during exercise and hours afterwards than those who rest longer. And if you are not weight training you should add it to what you are doing to give you that tighter look.
High Intensity Interval Training, can take the blues out of trudging on the treadmill for 30-60 minutes at a steady pace…boring!!! Try increasing your effectiveness by interval training indoors or outdoors either on equipment or without, on a treadmill or similar piece of equipment go as hard as you can for 30-60 seconds and rest 30-60 seconds at a slower pace…repeat 15-20 times. Outdoors can be even more creative…run up a hill, jog slowly back down…hit the deck do 15 pushups, walk for 30 seconds, find a small log to throw for 10 repeats then repeat for 5-8 times…get creative!
Feeling sluggish? It may be that you have adopted the mindset of low calories means weight-loss, this and a few other mistakes can cause issues. One of the biggest mistakes I see here in the training studio is too low a calorie intake and it actually lowers the metabolism and causes weight-gain. One of the most common is skipping breakfast in today’s busy lifestyles…doing this starts the day with the blood sugar too low and nothing in the tank causing the body to break down muscle tissue to make fuel for your activities. This also can lead to more serious health issues! Try eating balanced such as a 2Protein-1Fat-1Carb (2-1-1) ratio for good overall nutrition and energy for 4-6 small meals per day. Try this for 4-6 weeks and enjoy new energy levels and you may just adopt it for good.
Are you constantly skipping meals because you are too busy to take the time to eat? Here is material for a whole new blog post in itself, but sticking to the subject lets look at simple fixes to fill in the blanks. Several choices are out there for meal replacement supplements and you will have to decide what works best for you and your goals. You can look at high protein/high calorie, high protein/low calorie, low protein/all natural etc. The point is to keep the blood sugar stabilized for health reasons and also to help regulate you weight. Try eating 5-6 small meals per day and if the busy times of day slip away from you try adding protein shakes or bars such as those in the former paragraph in those times.
Keeping things interesting is the key to keeping the motivation up, and who knows maybe you find something that really fires you up! Try a TRX Suspension training workout, take up Martial Arts, try Olympic lifting moves (if you have the mobility) with a professional instructor, Cycling or anything that interests you. Any way you can just find something that can get you out of that rut, if you have one…The key is stay moving to stay young and fun!
