Bored with your workouts? Here’s 9 ways to pump new life into ‘em!

Let’s face it, doing the same workout over and over can get boring. It’s also not the best idea if you want to get the most out of your training. Muscles begin to adapt when you repeat the same exercises over and over in a similar fashion. In order to continue increasing your gains, and to keep your workouts fresh there are numerous adjustments that will revitalize your gains and your love for fitness.

Change your reps

• This is a pretty obvious one, but it’s also the most important. If you’ve been stuck in phase where you continue to do the same number of reps every workout, switching it up might do wonders for you. Try out low reps, high weight (1-3) for building strength, high reps, less weight (8-12) for mass building (for men) and circuit training, and also something in the middle which would be medium weight, medium reps ( 5 reps). Each rep scheme offers a different result, which will help diversify your workout.

Change your weight

• Workouts that involve weights can be altered pretty easily. If you’re used to bench pressing 115 lbs for eight reps, switch it up and try to do 150 lbs for 3 rep sets. The weight in your workout can be switched around very easily. Find something that is comfortable for you (hard, but not too hard that injury could happen) and work from there to tweak it.

Change the equipment you’re using

• Do you always do your shoulder presses and squats with a bar? Why not switch it up and use dumbbells? Or even better how about sandbags or kettlebells? Switching your equipment will help you work muscles that aren’t normally involved in your regular lift. Items like sandbags and kettlebells really work your core and stabilizing muscles, which will help you gain functional strength for real world activities. Another good example would be using gymnastic rings for your dips and pushups, or using bands for resistance training with bench and shoulder presses.

Change your rest between sets

• The amount of time you rest between sets can have a big impact on your results. When strength training, we recommend waiting usually anywhere between 2-4 minutes between each set. Yes, this is a long time to wait, and it’s hard for some people to do, but it’s necessary for recovery. When you’re doing a circuit workout try to keep your rest between sets around 30s – 60s.

Lose the weights, do a bodyweight workout

• If your regular workout involves always using weights, try a pure body weight workout at your local park or in your living room. Exercises like air squats, body rows, pullups, dips, burpees, up downs and dive bombers can all be done with no equipment. For an intense bodyweight cardio workout, try doing continuous exercises for 6-8 minutes with no rest. Or check out one of our body weight workout vids for a better picture.

Change the setting of your workout

• If you normally workout at a gym, try switching it up and doing a workout outside. There’s nothing better than getting a good workout in outside on a beautiful day.

Change the time of day you workout

• Most people workout at the same exact time every day. Varying the time you go the gym can really change your whole outlook on your workout. If you’re an early riser and like to get a jump on the day, then working out at night might not be the best thing for you. I’ve trained many people who worked out in the morning with me, and their results were no where near as good as when they worked out with me in the afternoon. Everyone is more energetic and more focused at different times of the day

Change the altitude of your workout

• If you have the chance to train at altitude, do it! It makes a huge difference in your workouts, and you won’t believe how easy a workout at sea level is after training at altitude. World class athletes train at altitude for this exact reason. I know it’s not in everybody’s cards, but if you have a chance to train at altitude, you’d be crazy not to try it.

Change the cycle of your workouts

• If you usually train 5 days on and 2 days off, switch up your workout to 4 days on and 3 days off. You can also adjust which days you choose to workout. One week you might go Monday through Thursday, but the next week you could go Mon-Tues-Fri-Sat. Switching up your cycle can make a big difference in your mental approach to working out.

Final thoughts

• Working out should be a fun experience which helps you relieve stress and adds to your well being. There’s no need to get in a rut and make working out a monotonous thing. Use the ideas in this article to spice up your workout, and keep it exciting.