How do you know when it is time to change your workout routine?

Here are 4 signs that it is time to change your workout:

1. Your workout bores you.  You used to like walking on the treadmill, so why do you dread your workout each day?  It is very easy to get bored when you do the same routine every day.  It helps to add variety to your workout. A few ideas that help break the boredom are to walk outside, add speed intervals, change your workout music, or bring a friend along.  If that doesn’t work, then try a new activity such as riding a bike or taking an aerobics class.  Change can help keep your workouts interesting so that you will keep coming back for more.

2.  You have hit a plateau and no longer see results from a workout.  Someone who does the same activity tends to hit a plateau much sooner than someone who adds variety to their workouts.  Variety means changing the activity or changing the duration of the workout.  This will help keep your muscles challenged so the results keep coming!

3.  Your workout leaves you more tired and sore than before.  Exercise should give you more energy, not leave you feeling rundown.  If you are always sore, you could be overtraining.  Your body needs time for rest and recovery.  Rest and recovery is the time when your muscles repair and rebuild.  If you don’t give your body time for recovery, then you become weaker instead of stronger.

4.  Your workout is too easy.  If your workouts aren’t challenging anymore, I recommend getting a heart rate monitor so that you evaluate how hard you are working. If you see that you aren’t getting your heart rate in the target range, then you know it is time to bump up the intensity. 

Changing your workout routine whenever you experience these signs will keep you in a continual mode of improvement.  Take time to pay attention to how you feel both physically and mentally.  Exercise should not be a chore that you dread, but something that makes you feel good about yourself.

What have you done lately to keep your workouts fun and challenging?