Change You Can Believe In!
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Tuesday I did a post all about beating boredom in the workouts. It is funny how in the comments & as I read many of the blogs, a lot of people seem to love the cardio but "hate" the weights. I never get this because I love the weights & "hate" the cardio! To me, cardio is so friggin hard & just goes on too long, even if I am doing HIIT. Yes, I know it is important & good for my heart & lungs & does burn calories so I do it. It is important!
BUT, the weights.. I have a love affair with the weights! I love that there are so many different ways to work out my body so that I never get bored. There are so many variations to each & every exercise. So many ways to change it up from using weights to resistance bands to weight plates to body weight to Swiss balls to medicine balls to anything you can get your hands on at home to light weight & more reps or heavier weight & less weight to changing the order or changing the pace/speed to circuit training to supersets, drop sets, giant sets. OMG, you get it.. I could really go on forever.
But you know what I like best beyond the fact that it strengthens my bones to keep me healthy? I LOVE HOW WEIGHTS HAVE RESHAPED MY BODY & MADE ME STRONG!
Tuesday I did a post all about beating boredom in the workouts. It is funny how in the comments & as I read many of the blogs, a lot of people seem to love the cardio but "hate" the weights. I never get this because I love the weights & "hate" the cardio! To me, cardio is so friggin hard & just goes on too long, even if I am doing HIIT. Yes, I know it is important & good for my heart & lungs & does burn calories so I do it. It is important!
BUT, the weights.. I have a love affair with the weights! I love that there are so many different ways to work out my body so that I never get bored. There are so many variations to each & every exercise. So many ways to change it up from using weights to resistance bands to weight plates to body weight to Swiss balls to medicine balls to anything you can get your hands on at home to light weight & more reps or heavier weight & less weight to changing the order or changing the pace/speed to circuit training to supersets, drop sets, giant sets. OMG, you get it.. I could really go on forever.
But you know what I like best beyond the fact that it strengthens my bones to keep me healthy? I LOVE HOW WEIGHTS HAVE RESHAPED MY BODY & MADE ME STRONG!
So, I may not change any of your minds out there but I thought I would just throw you some ways to change up your weight workout. Of course you don't do all of them at once but it gives you some ways to, in my eyes, keep it exciting!
- Let's say you are doing shoulder press drop sets from heavy to light weight. You could use barbells or dumbbells. But who says you have to use all at once. Maybe start with barbells & move to dumbbells all in the same set or vice versa. OR, do this & go right to some side lateral raises. Yes, you will use lighter weight but I know you will feel this then & the next day too!
- Shoulder presses again... Why not do alternating presses so that you work one shoulder at a time. Same with lateral raises. Do this with dumbbells, bands or a cable machine.
- How about your core. If you are a person that does the same order all the time, change that up. It is amazing how this feels so different. And of course, vary the exercises. I like to do specific lower ab exercises first BUT change the order of what you do.. same with obliques & the full core.
- Do you do lying barbell or ez-curl bar tricep extensions? Do you do close grip bench presses for the triceps too? Why not do both together? Press up from the close grip bench press position, lower the bar to your forehead for the tricep extension, return the bar up & come back down to the beginning close grip bench press & start over. I could not find a pic of a person doing both so I am showing you each exercise in the previous links. NOW, THE PICS SHOW A DECLINE, NOT A FLAT BENCH VERSION WHICH WILL CHANGE IT UP & MAKE IT HARDER SO USE LIGHTER WEIGHTS OR EVEN USE AN INCLINE BENCH VERSION.
- How about hanging leg raises using the Roman Chair. You can do these with the bent knee version as shown in the link or try the straight leg version (with or without the Roman Chair) which is harder. NOW, how about bring the knees up bent, from that position, lift them out to the straight leg position & them lower in the straight leg position.
- Have you tried doing bicep curls from a lying position. You can do these at home with a resistance band around a solid object OR at the gym on the cable machine or even using the seated row machine in the weight room. You would lie on the seat portion & put your feet on the foot platform. I love this move!
- Lunges- walking, forward, reverse, side, alternating & stationary lunges. OR, stand on a step & do a reverse lunge off of that OR stand in front of the step & do a front lunge onto the step. OR do the previous but stand sideways to the step & do the same move as described previously. OR clock lunges where you do a front, then a side, then a reverse, then back to a side & back to a front lunge. Change legs & do it to the other side. Use dumbbells or barbells or weight plates or anything else you have at home.
- Change the order of your routine. Start with the weakest body part for you & end with the strongest. OR change the days you work certain body parts.
OK, you get my drift! Many ways to make weights exciting.. well in my eyes and the payoff is great! Oh, and before I go, I want to add a couple links to some ACE - American Council on Exercise - articles on changing up the boredom in the workouts to add to my Tuesday Post. Here ya are:
Dance Your Way to Fitness
Introduction to Hoop Fitness and an article on how a lady lost 46 pounds & went from size 20 to 12 with hula hooping.
I know. I have thrown a ton of stuff at you today. I certainly realize "to each their own" but I do want to encourage you to seek out new ways to make the weights more appealing to you. Weights are so important to keeping the bones healthy as we age, preventing osteoporosis and reducing bone breaks now & later! Hit me up with any questions and your thoughts!
I'm with you Jody, I love weights and struggle with cardio. I tend to stick with weights classes at my gym. That way I don't have to think too hard about changing the routine, as every class tends to be different - and hard!
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I am like some of your other readers in that I love the cardio and am not crazy about weights. I have to make myself do it because I know it's good for me. Maybe I would like it better if I did the weight part in a gym.
Thanks for these tips. You are so smart and so encouraging!
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I love the tips Jody! As I'm reading them I can feel your excitement oozing out of your words and its great encouragement and gets me wanting to hit the weights harder!
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I've bookmarked this post because boredom in the weight room has really been holding me back. I cheat towards cardio because it's hard not to do wrong and I see immediate benefits (loads of sweat and weight loss success). But I know that I'm at the point where I'll get more good out of the weights than the cardio, and I need to find ways to make it excite me and stir my passion. You've obviously cracked the code, so I obviously need to pay close attention and learn a little.
Great post.
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I would love to train with you!
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If weights are used correctly you don't even NEED cardio. The amount of calories you burn will outslap anyone's long-winded cardio session.
I love the weights too yo. But you knew that already Jody didn't you?
Anyways, I saw the weightnagging site over at diet-blog. LOL! Hilarious. I used one of my other email addresses and I'm gona see how they work. I might give them a lil shout.
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FJ, this is one time I disagree with you. I do need cardio too. Weights just will not do it all for me.. plus cardio is good for the heart/lung health. I eat really well but still need that cardio with my weights. And I do want to eat more than less so the cardio helps that. I suppose I could do less if I wanted to eat 1200-1400 calories a day BUT I want to eat more than that!
Too funny on Diet Blog! Can't wait to hear about that!
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Well, see that depends on the goal of the person. If you want to work your endurance, then there is no doubt you need cardio. I'm speaking STRICTLY from a fat-loss perspective.
I've helped just as many dudes get cut with just weights as with weights + variable intensity interval cardio. It depends on how you got about it.
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Kellie, sounds like good classes.. change all the time!
Diane, maybe see if you can get a free trial period to be sure you like it & when you go is not to crazy in the gym.
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Amanda, so glad you are getting excited abut weights!!!
Jack, you are going to love the weights once you feel more comfortable with them!
Sian, now that is a nice compliment! Thank you!
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I'm weird in that I like both weights and cardio! When I start getting bored with routine, I throw something into the mix to make it fun again.
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