How to get out of an exercise rut ?

Doing the same workout every day or a few times a week maintains your cardiovascular health. However, as you get fit, your body becomes more efficient at doing the same exercise regimen. To burn calories at the same rate, build strength or boost your endurance, add challenges to get out of your exercise rut. Changing your exercise routine and integrating aerobic, strengthening and flexibility work targets muscle groups in new ways and keeps your workouts interesting.

Step 1

Create new short-term exercise goals to shift you out of your exercise rut. If you want to burn more  calories, tailor your workouts to include more aerobic activity. If high-impact exercises bore you or injure you, consider a resistance exercise such as swimming.

Step 2

Set your workout to music. During your warm-up, uplifting songs with less beats per minute give you time to stretch and breathe deeply. As you enter the more intense part of your exercise routine, put on music that energizes you. 

Step 3

Integrate speed or strength intervals to spike your heart rate to keep your workout interesting and challenging, and to burn more calories. Apply a 30-second speed interval every five minutes. Jump rope, do footwork and box a punching bag, dash uphill, run up stairs, sprint, do jumping jacks or jump up from a deep squat several times.

Step 4

Conclude your workout with a twist. Strengthen your muscles, lubricate your joints and keep your heart rate raised with a few cycles of the yoga sun salutations. Spend at least 10 minutes doing the poses and using your full range of motion. Contract your abdominal muscles while stretching and bending to strengthen your core muscles.

Tips and Warnings

• Warm up for your workouts by walking or slowly jogging. Cool down to help prevent injury and stretch your muscles for tomorrow’s workout. 
• Continue your yoga stretches, but slow down the pace to lower your heart rate. Hold some poses longer, inhaling on the effort and exhaling on the release.Speak with your doctor if you have medical concerns about the effects of your exercise program.

Source: Livestrong.com