Spring Clean Your Fitness Routine

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Spring is in full bloom, but is your commitment to working out starting to wilt?

Even the most dedicated exerciser has periods where energy and motivation flag. Fortunately, you can give your workout new zip with a few easy tweaks.

Following are some ideas for spring cleaning your fitness routine. These tips should help renew your pledge to maintain your body through the weeks and months ahead. They also can improve your results.

 

Set Goals

Sometimes, working out can make you feel like Sisyphus. Remember him? He was the Greek king condemned by the gods to roll a boulder up a hill each day, only to have the rock come rolling back down to its original starting point.  

Over time, performing the same workout in exactly the same fashion makes you feel the same way – working hard, but not getting anywhere. The best way to avoid this fate? Set some new goals so you feel like you’re moving forward.

A list of short, medium and long-term goals will help keep you both motivated and focused. For example, if you’ve been walking for 30 minutes a day, perhaps set a short-term goal of mixing one or two days of jogging each week. As a medium-term goal, you may want to plan to run on a majority of days no later than a few months from now. Finally, a long-term goal may be to run in a competitive race or a marathon.

After you’ve established these goals, write them down. Then, track your progress by recording what you’ve accomplished each day and how you felt.  

Slow Down

Walk into almost any gym, and you’ll see somebody pumping iron quickly while grunting and groaning. Such displays are a lot less impressive than they look, because lifting weights too quickly allows momentum to creep into your motion. The more momentum is involved, the less the muscle itself has to work.

So, slow down when lifting weights. Some experts recommend using equal amounts of time for both raising and lowering the weight. Others urge you to take twice as long when lowering the weight. Whichever approach you take, the important thing is to use gradual, controlled movements from start to finish.

After you make this transition, you will probably find that you are able to finish far fewer repetitions than before. That’s OK. In the long run, you’ll actually build more muscle and increase strength using this go-slow approach.

Warm Up, Cool Down

When it comes to working out, it is common for people to avoid three crucial steps that help protect the body from injury: warming up, cooling down and stretching. Your fitness spring clean is the perfect time to add these often overlooked elements to your workout.

Regular stretching improves the flexibility of both joints and muscles. Stretching allows you to experience a full range of motion and reduces the risk of injury.

Before beginning your regular exercise routine, engage in 5 to 10 minutes of light warm-up activities. For example, try low-intensity walking, slow jogging, knee lifts, arm circles or trunk rotations. This warm-up allows your heart to transition gradually to working harder, increases blood flow to muscles and raises body temperature, making injury less likely.

After the main component of an exercise routine is completed, engage in at least 5 to 10 minutes of cool-down activity. Slow walking or low-level exercise, such as slow pedaling on a stationary bike, is ideal for the cool down. This helps prevent blood from pooling in the legs, which can cause dizziness. It also gradually lowers body temperature and may reduce muscle stiffness or soreness.  

Do it Right

Too many people rush into working out without learning proper exercise techniques. This can be especially dangerous during weight training, where bad form can result in sprains, strains, dislocations and fractures. Poor posture increases body strain and the risk of injury for all types of exercise. Good posture makes your workout more effective and can help burn even more calories.

Exercise is all about improving your health, not tearing it down. If you have any doubts about your exercise form, address them during your fitness spring clean.

Never engage in any activity unless you are sure that you can perform it properly and efficiently. If you are unsure of yourself, consider scheduling a few sessions with a personal trainer who can show you the ropes.

Also, always wear proper clothing and use proper equipment when working out. Those ratty sneakers with the worn soles are not up to a three-mile run, and it is not OK to play racquetball without your protective goggles, even just this one time.

Using proper techniques will keep you on track to reach your fitness goals.

For more information, visit the FItness and Health message board.