So you’ve been doing the same workout for the last six months, and the thought of barging out the door to do the same old run or the exact same bike ride for the umpteenth time is starting to sound unappetizing. Join the club! No one really wants to feel like she’s running on a hamster wheel every day! Varying your exercise routine can keep your mind fresh, your body strong and your workouts fun.
On the other hand, however, a jack-of-all-trades approach to fitness will make you, as the saying goes, a master of none. If you want your body to successfully adapt and improve in some area of fitness, you need to target that area and put in the time to achieve your goals. But here’s the good news: workouts that use similar movements and muscle groups—also known as “cross-training”—can complement your fitness regimen and help you reach your goal.
Peruse the list below, find your fitness goal (or something close to it), and then read some advice from a Melaleuca fitness writer about how a little crosstraining can help you reach your goals.
- HERCULES? So you’ve been bench-pressing, pec flying, shoulder shrugging, bent and upright rowing, and lat pulling for months aiming for large, muscular arms and shoulders, and you’re looking for a way to mix it up.
- Solution: Hit the pool. Get in the lap-swim lanes and practice 50-yard (or meter) freestyle or butterfly repeats until you can barely lift yourself out of the water. You’ll get those chiseled muscles you’ve always wanted and possibly even see a strength breakthrough in the weight room.
- PAVEMENT POUNDER? So you’ve been upping your running mileage and you’re worried you might be headed straight for an injury.
- Solution: Take a tip from the triathletes: do a long bicycle ride and follow it up with a medium-length run. “Running a hard 10 miles after riding 35 is very much like a hard 16-mile run, but without the damage,” 49-year-old marathon champion Linda Somers-Smith told Running Times magazine.
- As well as the bike-run workout, try mixing in some bounding or jumping exercises. Studies show plyometrics, as they’re known, help improve running economy—accomplishing the same results with less effort.
- TEAM PLAYER? Your soccer, flag football or even bowling team is depending on you to come through for that clutch play, but you keep getting injured!
- Solution: Take a month off for conditioning and come back stronger than ever before. Do some field drills, but don’t stop there. Sign up for a fitness class or a boot camp at the local gym. If nothing else, add a regular core strength routine to your regimen in order to develop your body’s ability to handle unexpected changes in direction. Replace weaknesses with strengths and imbalances with balance.
- When you come back, you’ll be cutting through defenders like nobody’s business.
- COURT JESTER? You’ve been playing basketball or tennis all winter long, and you’re getting burned out on the high-impact, ferocious competition.
- Solution: Head to the park for some ultimate Frisbee or softball. Those sports will allow you to concurrently develop your hand-eye coordination and your speed. Toss in a core strength regimen, and you’ll have a refreshing off-season fitness routine.
- TWO-WHEELED TERROR? So you picked up cycling to lose weight, gain fitness and explore the local scenery, but now you’re getting tired of the daily grind.
- Solution: Take a tip from professional cyclist Bobby Julich and hit the trails! “After the season … I [go] to Lake Tahoe, hiking and running and mountain biking,” Bobby told Competitor Radio. “Then I [start] lifting with a personal trainer, focusing on the legs and the core muscles.” Skip the long ride on the weekends and instead go hiking, trail running or even mountain biking. If it’s your off-season (aka winter), pick up a set of inexpensive snowshoes and head for the hills. Just be careful on the downhill since cycling does little to prepare your legs for the pounding of the descent.
If you want to be successful in any sport, you’ll have to prepare specifically for that sport. But if your workout routine starts feeling stale or redundant, there’s a fair chance you aren’t getting the full benefit out of it anyway. So leave the humdrum behind and mix it up—it’s supposed to be fun, remember? M.S.
Admin Says: So which of these characters are you most friendly with – are you Hercules, Pavement Pounder, Team Player, Court Jester, Two-Wheeled Terror, or something else? As long as you’re not a Couch Potato, you’re doing well. The most important thing is to move! Cross-training keeps things fresh and these are just a few of the main solutions for cross-training. Please share your own tips too!
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Does golfing put me in the Court Jester?
I love to golf but use the golf cart when I do. The better thing would be is to bypass the cart and walk the course. Using the gym at work is also another amazing way to move. I am planning on heading there after first of the year due to the fact of it being right there at work so no excuses.
Thanks for posting this to the blog!
This is extremely helpful! Thank u for the very helpful,
jump starting guidelines for my & sooo many of my friends’ New Years Resolution! Appreciate this Article! Thanx again!