Change Your Routine For Your Summer Body!

Bored of your workouts and exercise routines? La Jolla Sports Club has a few ideas for your summer body!

Writing is easy. All you do is stare at a blank sheet of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead. – Gene Fowler

Sometimes writing these blogs comes easily. Other times, not so much. When those difficult times occur, we ask around our La Jolla Sports Club fitness community and get an idea on what people would like to read. And so we reached out to hundreds of ladies (four) and scoured thousands of websites (seven) for this month’s advice on how often you should change your fitness routine. Let’s jump in!

How Many Weeks / Months Should I Be Doing My Routine?

First up, if you asked yourself, Why didn’t they include ‘Years’ in the subhead, it’s time to get off that 1950s vibrating fat-loss machine and step into the now.

We’ve all seen (or been) that person in the gym who does the exact same exercise in the exact same order for the exact same number of reps and sets. Very simply: Don’t be that person. And if you insist on being that person, don’t be that specific type of that person who gets mad when people get on ‘your’ machine. But I’ve been doing this routine for a decade, don’t they know that’s MY machine at 10.27am??!?!!!

But we digress, what were we talking about? Ah yes, Change. According to our friends at the American Council of Exercise (ACE), you should be changing your routine every six weeks or so. ‘Trainer of Trainers’ and author of Strength Training for Fat Loss, Nick Tumminello, recommends switching it up every four to six weeks. According to Nick and your own experience, the more you do something, the easier it gets: ‘During exercise, you’re putting a stress on your body, and during your recovery, your body is improving its ability to handle that stress.’

The trick is to recognize when that daunting barbell squat or 5k pace has become normal and tweak it. Related sidenote: When you accomplish your goals, no matter how small, take the time to congratulate yourself. Not only does it feel good to give yourself a pat on the back, it’s also helpful to keep motivated for your next goals. In fact, your La Jolla Sports Club Personal Trainers would recommend creating your next goals while you’re feeling that glow and the momentum is hot!

Let Me See You Tweak

When your routine gets stale, you might notice a few things: Boredom, nagging injuries and the dreaded plateau, all of which bring their own flavor of detriment. Stuck in a rut? Hit up one of your award-winning La Jolla Sports Club Personal Trainers for some ideas. Stuck in your way, but want a few ideas on how to alter your workout? Time to get FITT.

(F)requency

Frequency is how often you complete your workout. You can increase or, in some cases, decrease the number of times you work out per week. A good example of increasing is dedicating a certain day to a certain body part, whereas decreasing might be doing full-body workouts M / W / F.

(I)ntensity

Intensity is how hard you work, so changing things like speed, load and rest time can make a major difference in your routine. Heart rate monitors and watches vary by quality, so do your research, but a good old fashioned exercise journal will never go out of style. And did you know that you can check your own heart rate in 10sec? Find your heartbeat, count beats for 10sec, multiply by six, add ‘Calculator’ to your LinkedIn profile. Technology’s got nothin’ on you.

(T)ime

Time is the duration of your workout. When altering your time, take into account the intensity of your activity. The harder you work, the less time you need to spend to achieve the same results. If you are adding in HIIT workouts or classes, we highly recommend giving yourself a day or two between those workouts with a max of three classes per week to avoid overtraining. Those off-days would be great for a longer, lower-intensity cardio session.

(T)ype

Type is the format or mode of activity. If you traditionally do high-rep, low-weight exercises, switch it up to low-rep, high-weight. Don’t worry, you’re not going to ‘hulk out.’ And if you’re looking for new exercises or motivation, La Jolla Sports Club has a tonnnnn of classes, all taught by fun and experienced instructors. Or maybe try some boxing with our very own Danielle Swaby!

Changing just one or two of these FITT options every four to six weeks will help keep you motivated and having fun while getting healthy. Alwaysalwaysalways listen to your body and of course reach out to your La Jolla Sports Club Personal Trainers with any questions on technique and safety.

Check back next month for fitness ideas whilst traversing the globe!

Until then, be safe and have a great Memorial Day!

// Your friends at La Jolla Sports Club