What Have You Done for Me Lately?

The other day in the gym someone said to me that she loves spin class but that it doesn't "do anything for her" anymore. As she said this she was pointing up and down at her body. She said that she was just not going to go anymore. This is a great example of why you should mix things up! She loved spinning when she first discovered it, so she spent all of her workout time in the spin room day in and day out. Her body got used to the activity and became very efficient at it and her changes became less noticable.

Your body will change when you start something new. The idea is to keep things 'new' by switching them up all the time. Remember that you need cardio, weights and nutrition to continually make progress with your fitness. If you stick to just one (or two) of these (i.e. only spin classes) you will make some progress but then hover there until you change things up again. Your body is smart, you need to confuse it.

Spinning is a fantastic workout and has been a part of my Workout Week for years. But it is a part of my week; not my whole week. Look at your Workout Week; it should include weights for each major muscle group (legs, shoulders, chest, back, biceps, triceps, abs), 3 cardio sessions, 2 rest days and as many stretching sessions as workouts. You can pair muscle groups together like a chest/back day, a legs/shoulders day, etc. to save time since, afterall, there are only seven days in a week! If you're eating right then you don't need cardio to burn fat; use it for your ever-important heart health.

Here is what my current Workout Week looks like.

Mon.~off

Tues.~legs/shoulders/cardio (group fitness class or stair mill)
Wed.~off

Thurs.~light chest/triceps

Fri.~biceps/cardio (spin class)

Sat.~abs/cardio (run)

Sun.~heavy chest/back

I change this up according to what my current goals are. Right now you will see that I have two chest days. My goal is to bench press my body weight so I am focusing extra time there for a while. What is your goal? Plan your Week around it and get busy, girl!