How to know when it’s time to kick up your workout

It’s 2 a.m. You’re on the couch, popcorn in one hand, remote in the other. An infomercial comes on and, boy, do the people look good. You had been thinking you wanted more out of your workouts, so you make a fitness purchase. A couple of days later, you are the proud owner of a Tae Bo Kickboxing Yoga-lates Power Metric Ballistic Strength Conditioning Lift Your Butt Sculpt Your Abs video by insert celebrity here.

When you’re looking to ratchet up your exercise regime it’s easy to be swayed by seeing people who are in better shape than you are. But what you don’t see is the long road that it took to mastering the activities that crafted those bodies. The spokespeople didn’t just jump in and do whatever they are selling, they had to work up to it – and it’s that long process that created the body you see.

The implication is that if we buy Billy Blanks’s Tae Bo DVD, we’ll look like him in six weeks. But what they don’t tell us is that he has been developing that program for the last 15 years, and that’s the amount of time it takes to look like that.

One of our clients who has great abs and a fantastic body makes a good living modeling for training systems, videos and workout regimes. The kicker is he doesn’t use any of them. The disclaimer that says “fitness models were paid for their endorsement” means they may not use the program or equipment. Add to that the disclaimer that says “individual results may vary” or “when used with a diet and nutrition plan” and you are pretty much guaranteed that you won’t get the results you want in five minutes a day.

This is not to say that it isn’t important to continue to challenge yourself. Not sure if you need to do more? Here’s how you know that it is time to step it up:

• You are able to carry on a full conversation during your workout. Sure, you might be burning some calories, but if you have enough breath to talk your body isn’t working hard enough to make any big changes.
• You aren’t showing outward signs of exertion such as: changes in the rate or the depth of your breathing, a red face, sweating, making grunting or groaning sounds.
• You aren’t toning up the way you wanted to or the way you were when you first started out.
• Your capability for energy output has not increased, meaning you aren’t getting stronger and or having longer endurance.

There are many ways to step up your program. Most rely on variability, which is they key to growth. The more you change the circumstances under which you are working, the more things will change. Here are just a few examples of how to do that:

• Add weights
• Increase or decrease speed
• Add time or reps to your sets
• Shorten the time between sets
• Add new activities between sets. Example: Use a treadmill for 20 minutes, then do 20 pushups and then back to the treadmill
• Change the medium. Example: If you normally walk on the sidewalk try walking in a pool or on a beach

What do the items on the list above have in common? No gimmicks. You really can do without that Ab Crusher Thigh Buster Backbender Chin-Up Pull-Up Sit-Up Get-Up Tread Climbing Starimaster. After all, results may vary.

Originally published in Grosse Pointe Today.