Do I Need To Shake Things Up Regularly?

merryberry99

Hi! I try to walk at least once every evening and hoof it as much as possible. I try to run or jog off and on when I can, but with the heat and humidity, some days it's not possible to do so outside. Sometimes I do some strength training at home, but my exercise is primarily walking.

To achieve maximum results, is it best o change up my exercise routine regularly? For example, should I take a day off from walking to complete an exercise video or some sort? Complete a variety of workouts instead of sticking with the norm?

Looking forward to hearing your sage advice!

Stopin_da_yoyo

Great question. In my opinion, It depends.

1. Im assuming your asking for weightloss.
( if you were asking about gaining muscle I figured you would have more lifting)
what

2.im assuming your nutritional intake has already been modified or are you just cutting calories.
If not, I would cut all your simple carbs...If your going to eat a carb make sure its got some good nutrients/fiber.
This includes cutting sodas and switching to water, I even went as far as to cut my caffiene products out too.
I dont drink alcohol anymore but I guess one a day wont hurt as long as you log it.


Changing things up is all good. At least its activity. Ok, I appologize up front if I sound like an *kitten*, I dont mean it that way if it comes off that way.

From my understanding most females dont want to build up too much muscle but muscle burns fat. If you want faster results i would do a little more weights but keep up the cardio also. Think about maybe hitting your bigger muscle groups. Bigger muscle groups burn more cals right?

Hope this helps a little.

SezxyStef

I don't feel you need to change your exercise up...if you enjoy walking walk. I walk 2-3x a week and do vary my pace depending on who is with me.
I lift 3x a week same program for 10 months...I do vary the weight.

If you like the exercise you do there is no reason to change to something you may not like. But for weight loss it is about your calorie deficit...exercise is for health and fitness...

As for the other advice...no need to cut our any carbs...just stay in a calorie deficit. I drink coffee and diet coke everyday...and you can notice by the ticker it has had no negative effect.

@drm I as a woman love the look I have now from heavy lifting...there are a lot here that lift heavy and shed fat to show the muscle.

Anniebotnen

Building variety into your exercise program is a really great idea. If you do the same thing all the time, your body learns to get more efficient, and burns fewer calories. Therefore, to get the same calorie burn for that activity, you would need to increase intensity or duration. But the biggest reason is that variety can prevent boredom. So alternating the walking with ever use DVDs is a great idea!

In addition to cardio, a weight training program will help prevent muscle loss while you are losing weight, and will make your slimmer body look great. Definitely recommend adding resistance training to your exercise program.

merryberry99

Thanks! I'm definitely trying to keep an eye on my calories and am not interested in cutting carbs out (although, I do try to keep an eye on them). I'm more concerned about getting the best workout for my body to help me lose weight. I greatly appreciate your advice!

thavoice

Changing things up isnt a bad idea.

It works different muscles so that is good, and also can keep you from getting bored with the same ole routine.

I used to get bored to death with my running and then changed it up to doing diff sort of runs during the week. Keeps it a bit more interesting!

Lizzy622

I change up mostly not to get bored and also to work different muscles. Your muscles become very efficient at doing the same thing over and over again so using different muscles can burn more calories. You don't need to stop walking but try to change your pace or stride length or walk sideways or backwards ( as long as in a safe area to do so). I also like taking classes at the local school that are free or very cheap just to change things up. I find the group accountability helps me keep going.