5 Ways for Tweaking Boring Exercises
Getting fit is almost impossible if you are not training your body. Finding an exercise routine that you can stick to is just half the battle. At some point, even that routine becomes boring.
And we don’t blame you! If you are doing the same moves 6 times a week for months on end, there will come a time where you will just be fed up with it. What’s worse is that your body may actually get used to just those moves only and you might experience what we call a “plateau” where your body does neither gain weight, or lose it, it just stays stuck on one plane.
This is a clear indication that you need to try out something more challenging, not only to keep yourself actually interested in the workout, but also so that you can keep progressing towards your goals. And these goals don’t necessarily have to be “weight loss”; they could also be increasing endurance, improving strength etc.
Here are some ways that you can tweak up simple exercises to keep them from getting boring. Keep in mind that some of these ways may not be suitable for you if you are a newbie at training/working out.
1: Add Weights:
Without a doubt, one of the easiest most effective ways of tweaking up any boring exercise is to add weights to it. Feel like squats are too good of an exercise to let go of, but at the same time you are bored to death with just doing a plain squat?
Make the move more challenging by squatting while holding a kettlebell in your hands. If you don’t have that, pick up a 6kg dumbbell instead.
2: Add Another Move:
If you are bored of lifting weights or just don’t feel like tweaking up an exercise using weights, another way to make an exercise move challenging for yourself is to add another move to the equation.
Lunges are awesome and are super effective. If you are bored of doing just the lunge, try adding a jump to it, or even a front kick. This extra move will not only make lunges twice as effective but will also help you improve coordination.
3: Experiment with Angles:
Yet another simple way of tweaking up a boring exercise is to practice doing it at a different angle. Pushups in this regard can be used as a great example. You can place your feet on an elevation (like a wooden block) and do a pushup. This is what the pros called a “progressive” exercise move.
4: Increase the Reps, Shorten the Time:
Another way to make an exercise challenging, if not less boring, is to increase the reps and allowing yourself the same amount of time to complete those extra reps. For example, if you normally do 8 reps of burpees in 25 seconds, aim for 12.
5: Hold the Form:
This way of tweaking up a boring exercise and making it more challenging can also be demonstrated with the example of a squat. Instead of dropping down to a squat over and over, sink yourself deep into the squatting position and hold it for 30 (or more if you like) seconds. It sounds easy to do, but it is anything but that when you are actually doing it!