Once you’ve gotten into a routine of exercise, when your daily run or visit to the gym becomes effortless, you might find yourself unchallenged. For some, coasting is another hurdle and, without increased difficulty, they can find themselves without the endorphins that come from a new physical accomplishment.
It is at this point in one’s fitness regime that an individual should seek to make their daily exercises more challenging. To do so, however, doesn’t necessarily mean simply going longer or harder. In fact, doing so can even be counterintuitive, depending on the type of physical goals a person is hoping to achieve.
Intervals
If you’re a runner that has become accustomed to a certain distance and pace, adding intervals to your routine can be an entirely new challenge. Intervals simply mean breaking up your steady pace with contained sprints, increases in speed that challenge different muscle groups and push your stamina even further. Once you have added one interval into your running schedule, you can then begin adding another, and so on, tailoring your exercise to your ability.
Paddles
Confident swimmers looking to improve their upper body strength will often turn to hand paddles. These small accessories change the dynamic of swimming and will make even physically adept swimmers have to rethink their ability to traverse the pool. Paddles are an affordable way to add a new degree of challenge to a swim without the need to find a bigger pool or extend the time of your workout.
Rucking
The term ‘rucking’ can apply to many different sports and activities but always infers the addition of adding weights to your body so as to challenge an individual’s strength and endurance. Some will attach weights to their hips during a pull-up routine, developing greater strength in their shoulders. The appeal of rucking, however, is that even walking with a weighted backpack can add an entirely new dimension of fitness to a simple stroll.
Parachuting
Since wearing weights in a pool would be dangerous, swimmers must look to other methods to increase their strength. One way that this has been accomplished is with parachutes. These small parachute-like attachments are added to a swimmer’s body, typically around their waist, and add a varying degree of drag. Even a small parachute adds a remarkable amount of resistance to a swimmer and, as a result, remains a popular tool for those looking to improve their ability.
Change Position
Push-ups are a mainstay of bodyweight fitness regimes. It only takes a small amount of time, however, until the body becomes used to the routine and push-ups become more easily accomplished. Since extending the number of reps completed can eventually become time-consuming, individuals should change the way they position themselves instead. Moving arms further apart or bringing hands together, known as a diamond push-up, totally changes the dynamic of the exercise and requires strength from a new set of muscles. Then, there is the option to add an incline or even begin using only one arm at a time.
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