By Amanda Gabriel
Elm Staff Writer
If you find yourself stuck in the same old workout routines, it may be time to switch up your moves. Going to the gym should be fun and exciting, not a boring repeat of the last week’s exercises. Your body develops something known as muscle memory, so when you continually practice the same movements over and over again your body will begin to recognize what you are doing and become accustomed to it. As a result, you will burn fewer calories and not get as much as you could out of your workout. As a general rule of mine, a great workout should always push you out of your comfort zone to some extent and make you uncomfortable; if you are not uncomfortable then your body still has more to give. My definition of uncomfortable does not mean feeling awkward or doing something that makes you sick; instead, being uncomfortable can include trying a new exercise or doing a few extra repetitions than normal.
In order to avoid being too comfortable with your routines, I have compiled a list of a few workouts and their descriptions that I like to cycle through randomly to keep my time in the gym interesting.
1. Tabata is one of my favorite types of workouts because it is one of the fastest ways to get into shape without feeling like you are putting in strenuous effort. Start by choosing two movements that target the arms such as pushups and dips. Next, set a timer for 20 seconds and do as many pushups as you can in those 20 seconds without stopping. After the 20 seconds are over, rest for ten seconds. Now perform 20 seconds of dips at a steady pace without stopping (if possible). Rest for 10 seconds. Repeat this cycle of 20-10-20 for 3 more rounds for a total of 4 rounds. Now choose two movements that target the legs such as squats and lunges and do the same thing with the new movements. Lastly, pick two ab movements and perform the same workout.
2. 20 minute AMRAP stands for “as many rounds as possible,” which is another great workout. There is one rule for this type of workout: do not stop. I usually start by creating a workout that alternates between movements targeting arms, legs, and abs twice. For example, I might choose bicep curls (arms), squats (legs), sit-ups (abs), pull-ups (arms), side lunges (legs), and Russian twists (abs). This would be my full workout and each movement should be performed ten times each down the list. Once I get to the last exercise, I go back and start at the top for the entire 20 minutes. If you need to, you can take short 15 second max breaks when necessary, but try to challenge yourself to not rest.
3. Pyramids are probably one of the most difficult workouts because they consist of climbing up a pyramid of reps by doing 5, 10, 15, and 20, then climbing down by performing 15, 10, then 5 reps of a set of exercises. Again, I like to choose my exercises by alternating between targeted areas of the body. However, you can easily Google types of exercises and create your own list consisting of as many or as few different movements as you want.