Shock Your Body to Improve Fitness

You don’t necessarily have to work harder to advance your fitness program. Simply varying your program will shock your body enough to continue stimulating the changes needed to raise your level of fitness. Here are some suggestions on how to alter your current exercise program without necessarily upping the intensity:

• If you ride a stationary exercise bike, occasionally stand up while pedalling (increase the tension while you do this), pedal backwards, or sit on the floor behind the bike while you pedal. This position puts more stress on your hamstrings.
• Change the order of your weight-training exercises, or replace your usual exercises with new ones for each muscle group. You can also do just one set of the exercises you normally do, then repeat the series again two or three times.
• If you like to run, consider water running in waist-deep water, or experiment with Nordic walking.
• Walkers can occasionally do a short sprint. Also, try running sideways or backwards for short intervals.
• Every three or four months, take a week or two off from your usual exercise activity and try something different, like Pilates, yoga, martial arts or even golf. Two weeks isn’t long enough to backslide in your usual fitness routine, but it offers enough of a break so that when you do return to the activity, you’ll continue to see improvement.
• If your cardio routine involves doing only one activity, consider breaking it up by doing several different activities. For example, if you usually run on the treadmill for 30 minutes, try doing 10 minutes of three other activities, such as cycling, stair climbing or perhaps rope jumping. You’ll still get the heart/lung and fat-burning benefits of a longer single activity.