Saturday, April 4, 2009

Get Creative with your Workout!

More ideas to get creative with your workout!!
Every once in while, try to get out in the open, outside the gym for your Cardio routine.

Cross Training is a great way to spice up your routine. It is also a favourite mode of performance training for athletes!
Simply put, it means training in different ways, using 2 or more different types of activities to improve overall performance – can be applied to resistance training, cardio training or a combination of both.

It also helps break the plateau in case of achieving results as is usually observed after months of performing the daily routine exercises. The results tend to stagnate or proceed very slowly, since the body has adapted to the routine and now does not consider it a challenge any more!
Also, the chances of adherence increase since the activities can be planned according to your interest. Also, it is ideal for the busy working professionals, who find it difficult to follow the resistance training and cardio schedule as is generally prescribed in a gym, due to time constraints.
Another significant benefit is that it helps prevent Repetitive Stress Injuries, which occur due to the wear & tear produced at the joints, if same intense activities are performed consistently over a period of time.
A routine can be designed using different Cardio methods – for example, instead of using Treadmill everyday or Elliptical Cross Trainer or both day in and day out, break the routine by doing an outdoor activity like biking, swimming or mountain climbing 2-3 times a week.

Every activity involves atleast some different set of muscles. For example walking and biking – both being cardio activities involving legs, target slightly different set of leg muscles!
And the beauty of such combinations is that along with the cardio component, the muscles can also be strengthened and skills like agility, balancing etc. can also be worked on. It focuses on the entire body and performance also.

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