Why Exercise Variation is Important
Tuesday, February 16, 2010 at 10:34AM By: Cari Ham
Exercise variation is important in every aspect of your fitness program. In both your aerobic/cardiovascular workouts, as well as your strength training workouts, you need to change up what you are doing in the gym in order to get the results you want. There are many reasons why exercise variation is important, but first, it is important to define exercise variation. And since our current workout series focuses on strength training, we are going to define what exercise variation means in terms of your strength workout. Exercise variation in strength training means you are mixing up the types of exercises you do, changing the amount of weight you use, mixing up the repetitions you perform, choosing different sequences of workouts, etc. Here are a few reasons why changing up your workouts on a regular basis (minimum of every 2 weeks) is necessary:
1. Muscle Adaptation- Muscles adapt quickly. When you repeat the same workout every time you enter the gym, the muscles get used to what you are doing. They no longer become challenged by the type of exercises you are doing, the order in which you are performing them, the amount of weight you are lifting compared to the number of repetitions you are performing, and so on. So what does this mean? It means you will stop seeing results. You will not longer be sore after a workout, you will not continue to gain strength, weight loss will slow, etc. Not having variation in your workout will affect your results no matter what your personal goals are. So mix it up!
2. Prevent Boredom- Making time for exercise is a challenge, but we are more likely to hit the gym if we enjoy what we are doing. We can keep enjoyment in our workouts by keeping a assortment of workout options in mind. My clients always use boredom as an excuse for why they did not work out or cut their workout short. Variation will help prevent you from getting so bored with your workouts that you just stop doing them.
3. Prevent Injury- Our bodies were designed to have all parts moving and functioning together with proper posture and alignment. When you get stuck doing the same workout routine for months at a time, you jeopardize the natural way your body was made to move. You will likely over-develop some muscles, while under remain weak and unstable. This type of training can lead to back, neck, shoulder, knee, and hip problems. Joint degeneration may occur if you continue with an unbalanced program for long periods of time. So each time you enter the gym, change up what you are doing. Your body will thank you and it will keep you on track to reach your full fitness potential!
It is now time for workout # 7. The use of a TRX in your home is a great way to add variety into your workout. It is compact and easy to get set up and will provide you with many new challenging exercises to add to your fitness routine!
Workout 7 includes the following 5 TRX exercises:
1. TRX Squat- 10 repetitions
2. TRX Push Up- 10 repetitions
3. TRX Row- 10 repetitions
4. TRX Hamstring Curl- 10 repetitions
5. TRX Letter "W"- 10 repetitions
The workout guidelines are as follows:
1. Complete 2-3 sets of each exercise
2. Move through the exercises in a circuit training format (one right after the other with no rest in between)
3. Make sure you are breathing. Exhale through the exertion (or the hardest part of the exercise)
4. Control is important. Use a 2:2 count to ensure you are not rushing through your exercises. That means you should count 2 seconds on both the concentric and eccentric portion of the exercise.
5. Have water readily available so you continue to hydrate during your workout.
6. If you begin to feel faint, lightheaded, dizzy or nauseous, discontinue the workout and consult a physician.
7. If you are new to exercise and are under the care of a physician for a condition that requires continual medical care, please consult your doctor prior to beginning this program.
8. HAVE FUN!!!
Reader Comments (3)
You are right! We need to mixed up exercises so we can achieve the goal we want :) Anyways, the video is great!
Great advice..Thanks for sharing and possibility to comment! Welcome to visit Ideal Weight Blog to find some recipes and great articles! Thanks!
As a Newbie, I am always searching online for articles that can help me. Thank you Wow! Thank you! I always wanted to write in my site something like that
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