11 Jul Five tips to re-energize your workouts

No matter how dedicated your are to staying fit, anyone can fall into a workout rut now and then.

If your workouts have fallen a little bit flat lately, or you’re having trouble getting over the hump to reach certain fitness goals, consider changing things up.


Here are five tips to change up and re-energize your fitness routine.


1. Switch up your exercises – Although this seems obvious, some people continually do very similar workouts week after week, month after month and even year after year. Take advantage of the versatility of a home gym by tweaking the way you perform lifts of certain body parts, or find different ways to work out with free weights. Find a different way to work out the body parts, such as doing a pushup circuit at different angles instead of always doing bench presses to build the chest muscles.


Adding new fitness equipment can also add a new spark. Visit At Home Fitness or shop online for some of the best selection and deals in the industry.

2. Change your workout length – If your workout normally lasts 45 minutes or an hour, change it up every few weeks by shaving 15 minutes off the time.
Increase the intensity and amount of weight used for sets, but do fewer sets and take less time between exercises. This will create muscle confusion, force you to step up your effort and make it more interesting because it will be different. And the best part is you’ll get done a little bit quicker.
If you use a treadmill or elliptical machine a lot, change the speeds and lengths at which those workouts are conducted.


Exercise and eating right are not things that should seem like a punishment. Find forms of exercise that you enjoy, like walking, jogging, biking, dancing, playing basketball, etc.

3. Change your techniques – Many lifts on a home gym are done with both arms or legs at the same time. To change things up a little, though, do lifts where you exercise one arm at a time, for example, on triceps extensions or one-legged extensions. This will work your muscles in a more concentrated way and serve as another way to change things up.


4. Change your workout time – If it’s getting harder and harder to stay motivated to work out, consider changing what time you exercise for a week. If you usually exercise in the morning, try working out at night after work a few times. Maybe you’ll like one better than the other, but a change even for a few days can make a difference in the quality of workouts.


5. Find a workout buddy – If you normally work out alone, consider finding someone else to exercise with.
A workout buddy can help push you more, be more accountable or just simply make it more fun.

At Home Fitness consultant Aaron Dorksen’s blog deals with a variety of fitness topics, ranging from workout tips, motivational ideas and feature stories on how exercise impacts people’s lives. E-mail him with comments, questions or ideas for future blogs at aaron@athomefitness.com