Everyone knows how valuable exercise is. We’ve seen it plastered on advertisements, our doctors encourage us to exercise all the time, and athletic feats are always shown on TV. Exercise is indeed important, but beyond the glitz and glamour often connected to it, its significance is fundamental: it helps us live.
Regular exercise helps improve muscle strength and endurance. It improves our circulatory system and boosts the respiratory system. People in previous eras did not need exercise as they lived active lifestyles. But in modern times, many of us are stuck with a sedentary lifestyle that has us sitting in front of a computer for hours on end, with barely any physical activity.
Due to this lifestyle, exercise has become a hobby or fad. Many people engage in it to kick back and relax, enjoying their relief from sweating. Others use exercise to stay in shape and shave off some extra pounds. Regardless of your reason, it’s good as long as you exercise. It’s one of the key components in living a healthy life. But if you already consistently exercise, you might find yourself getting bored with the same old routine- or you might even find yourself ‘plateauing,’ a fitness term for when the body naturally adjusts, and you stop seeing weight loss or muscle gain.
The best solution for this problem is not to stop exercising, instead try a different one! The benefits of switching up your exercises now and then:
Surprise and Challenge Your Muscle.
Your muscles are used to the same motion that you have probably done hundreds of times. At this point, it’s not stimulating anymore. Trying out different exercises surprises your muscles with new motions and triggers them to grow.
Prevent Injuries By Overuse.
A common problem many long-time fitness lovers find is their joint hurts from doing an exercise. This is what’s called ‘repetitive strain injury.’ Often developed from continuous repetitive motion that places stress on the joints or muscles. Doing a different exercise allows these overused parts to rest while remaining active.
Develop Other Muscles.
When we do our usual exercise, we often build upon muscles we’ve trained before. This results in imbalances in the body and can result in having a weaker opposing muscle. This is why changing your exercises every so often is important- it activates the muscles you don’t normally use in your regular routines.
Try These Exercises
If you’re getting bored with your current routine or simply want to challenge other muscle parts, you can try these out. Of course, if you have any preexisting medical conditions, it’s best to get a patient’s advocacy advice to make an informed decision about what kind of exercise regimens you should follow.
Calisthenics.
Compared to free-weight or machine exercises, calisthenics uses the body’s natural weight to exercise. Instead of doing lat pull-downs, pull-ups are done instead. Push-ups are done in place of bench presses. Weighted squats are switched with high-density squats. Calisthenics is a great way to target your compound muscles and teach you to carry your own body weight. A benefit of calisthenics is it requires very little equipment- you only need yourself and whatever is available nearby. It would help gain access to a monkey bar for pull-ups, but it’s not exactly a requirement.
Resistance Bands.
For those who are used to free weights or strength training, the motions required for resistance bands exercises may come naturally. After all, they share the same general motion. However, resistance band training differs in that you can focus on your execution’s quality more than the weight of your tool. It’s also lighter on the joints as you have more control over how you angle your exercise. It’s a great alternative to your regular exercises and is very handy if you need a low-impact but still effective exercise.
Circuit Training.
An exercise that’s steadily growing in popularity, circuit training has you do several exercises that work out different muscle groups for a set amount of time without rest. You move on to the next exercise after a few seconds of rest. This will continue until you’ve accomplished a few exercises, in which you repeat it all over again. This new form of exercise is making waves, as it’s both fun and highly effective. The intensity can easily be scaled for beginners or experts (allowing both to train together); it combines cardiovascular endurance and muscular endurance with strength training while fostering a sense of belonging-ness as it’s often done in groups. Consider trying out circuit training when you want to spend time with people while exercising.
