The Importance of Variety

Albert Einstein once defined insanity as ‘Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.’ Now whilst I am almost certain that he wasn’t talking about hitting the gym, this is a quote that is very applicable to a lot of people who exercise regularly, either to lose weight or build muscle. So here I am going to write briefly about keeping your exercise program varied, and why this is so vital to ensure constant progression.

Your Body Is Very Clever

The human body is a pretty incredible machine, and one that adapts to external stimuli very effectively. So when it comes to exercise (the external stimulus), it does not take very long for the body to adapt to the stresses that you place on it.  It becomes more efficient so it takes less energy over time to do the same activity. So if week in week out you are performing the same workouts, chances are you are seeing results decrease from them.

Plateaus Are Frustrating

When this happens, you hit what is known as a ‘plateau’. Sometimes they last a couple of weeks, but they can last years if you don’t do something about it. You may still be hitting the gym and doing cardio and weights, but just failing to see the results that you want. The best way to smash through a plateau is to do something that you’ve never done before – it might be a new workout at a new intensity, or a completely new way of training, but you need to do something!

Repetition Is Boring

 All too often I hear people tell me that ‘exercise is boring’. Indeed for many that’s the go to excuse when they give up. They tell me that they would love to exercise, but that it’s just too boring. Well guess what? Doing the same thing over and over again is boring! Keeping your exercise program different and varied is key to enjoying your weight loss journey. The more that you enjoy something the more likely that you are to stick to it and not ditch it after a couple of weeks.

Repetition Kills Intensity

If your goal is weight loss and you do the same workout every day, I can almost guarantee that the intensity of your workouts will suck. On day 1 you might be tearing the gym apart with your bare hands, but when you’re still doing the same workout 7 weeks later you are more likely to be going through the motions than you are to be pushing yourself to the limit. It is because you are now used to it. You’ve probably seen some good results so you feel good about yourself. You relax. When you relax your intensity goes down, and your results lag. 

Including Variety – Weight Training

To ensure that you don’t hit a plateau in your weight loss efforts, make sure that you vary your exercise routine at least every 6 weeks, but don’t overdo variety in your weight program. Variety is great, but it is also important to be able to measure progress. If every single workout is completely different then it can be difficult to assess how are you getting on. So don’t try to chop and change workouts up until you’ve given it 4-6 weeks to work.

Including Variety – Cardio

When it comes to cardio variety is your best friend. Change things up as much as you can – use different machines and keep your workouts varied by doing a mix of High Intensity Interval Training, sprints and traditional cardio. I do a mix of jogging, hiking, cardio workouts at my fit club of kickboxing, zumba and dance cardio, interspersed with DVD based program workouts from P90X and INSANITY.