4 Ways to Breathe Life into your Dying Workout

Bodybuilding - 4 Ways to Breathe Life into your Dying Workout

1. Switch Your Workout Style - Lack of variety in a workout quickly leads to boredom. Working out is just like any other aspect of life. If we get bored we quickly lose interest and sleep walk through the workout as a result. It's just like having a job. If you go to work every single day and do the same thing every SINGLE day you quickly lose interest in what's going on.

There are so many types of workout styles available. Search on Superset, German Volume, Pyramid, Cable, Dumbbell, Circuit, Straight Set, Total Body Complexes, or Push/Pull and you'll see just what I mean.

2. Increase Weight 10-15% On Each Exercise - One of my favorite ways to kick start a workout is to add 10-15% of my normal resistance to an exercise. If nothing else it gets your attention. All too often we get attached to the amount of weight and reps we're accustomed to doing. 3 things happen here:

- Comfort
- Lack of Growth
- Boredom

All of which are terrible for the drive and excitement needed to keep a dynamic workout in tact. Adding more weight also allows you to refocus on what is going on. You are forced to focus and push yourself to get that weight off your chest!

3. Add The Element Of Surprise To Your Music Selection - While the iPod is great for your workout it can also be a curse. Last month I listened to the same 3 play lists for 6 days a week. Needless to say I got bored... really, really, really bored. Mixing up the music is a great way to get you rejuvenated and provide that extra spark. When your music gets style try this:

- Set the player to random
- Switch musical genres (rap to rock, rock to rap, house to heavy metal, etc)
- Find some old music you haven't used in a while

Music is a powerful motivator in the gym. Use it to your advantage.

4. Perform Challenging Exercises - Some of the equipment in the gym can get very lonely. The Dip/Pullup stands, hack squat machine, Olympic bars (deadlifts, squats, overhead press), and plyometric boxes (explosive jumping) are all woefully lonely. Befriend them. Crank out some pullups, do a deadlift or 2, stack up some plyometric boxes and perform a set of jumps.

These exercises are the most rewarding in the gym. On top of that there is NEVER a long line of people climbing over each other to do pullups. These exercises are the most challenging but they are also the most rewarding.