Give Your Workout a Lift

06 March 2008

A Special Feature from eDiets.com

By Mariko Thompson, eDiets Contributor

When TV became more interesting than her workout, Melinda Grieger knew it was time to change her exercise routine. For almost two years, the 41-year-old Woodland Hills, California, resident rode her stationary bike at home. But after a while, channel surfing held more allure than pedaling.

“You're doing the same exercise over and over,” says Grieger, who jumpstarted her routine last month by hiring a trainer. “You get lazy when you're not held accountable.”

At some point, everyone who exercises regularly falls into a fitness rut. Exercise becomes one more task on the list, somewhere behind washing the dishes and above taking out the trash. Despite their best efforts, even fitness experts suffer from bouts of boredom. Here's what they do to take their workouts to the next level, or at least keep them interesting.

• Partner up: Make your workout a social event rather than a task. Meet a friend for a hike or a game of tennis. Even if you don't leave the gym, going with a friend helps to pass the time. Not only are you more likely to show up if your friend is waiting, you're also more likely to spur each other on, says Kendell Hogan, regional group fitness director for Crunch in Los Angeles.

• Hire a trainer: Yes, it costs money. But so does that gym membership when you don't use it. A trainer will push you to run a little faster, do a few more crunches, lift a little more weight. Good trainers also teach proper technique and introduce new activities into your routine.

“You're hiring someone to push you,” says Janice Roberts of Personal Trainers Los Angeles. “Now you've got a responsibility to someone and that helps a lot.”

• Embrace change: Trainers say variety is essential to maintaining a fitness routine. Try water aerobics instead of land aerobics. If you always train in a gym, go outside. Learn how to surf. Go for a hike.

Roberts suggests adding a new element every four to six weeks, to keep from falling into a rut in the first place. “You want to add something that your body is not used to,” she says. “It shocks the body and forces the body to readjust.”

• Set goals: Create a specific goal to be reached within a set period of time. Maybe you've always dreamed of being able to complete a boot camp course. Or maybe you'd like to participate in a triathlon or a 5K. Having a deadline can serve as a motivating force.

You don't have to be a serious athlete to participate in many events, says Dr. Tim Church, medical director of the Cooper Institute, a Dallas research center on exercise and health funded by the National Institutes of Health. “They are so participation-friendly these days,” he says. “That's why you see a boom in marathons and triathlons. The average person is doing them.”

• Adjust your attitude: Exercise can make you look and feel better, but it won't necessarily transform you into that sculpted actor or actress from the latest action film. People with unrealistic expectations soon become discouraged. Accepting that your body has both potential and limits is part of developing a healthy attitude toward exercise, Church says.

“No matter how many crunches you do, you may never develop six-pack abs,” he says.

If the goal is weight loss, set a manageable target. Someone with a serious weight problem shouldn't strive for, say, their weight as a teen, before lack of exercise and too much fast food took their toll. Reducing their weight by 10 percent is a more realistic goal, Church says.

• Don't over-train: This one's a concern for serious fitness enthusiasts. Over-training can lead to physical and mental burnout.

These people may need more rest between workouts in order to improve performance, Crunch's Hogan says. “It sounds crazy, but sometimes backing off can help,” he says. “It's about giving the body a rest. If you're working out seven days a week, sometimes you'll get better results by pulling back.”

Find FREE diet and fitness tips, plus get a personalized meal plan from eDiets.com by visiting www.ediets.com