90-Day Fitness Challenge: Creativity is Critical for Your Success

As we continue through this challenge you’re going to find that your exercise and diet will have a tendency to become repetitive.  I know for myself that its easy for that to happen because when I finally find something that works (whether food that fits within my diet or an exercise routine that I enjoy) that I allow myself to become a bit mundane and repetitive because its easy.  And today we’re going to talk about why that’s not good for your exercise routine.

First, when you become a bit too consistent with your exercise your body starts to get too used to the exercise.  The muscles needed for that specific routine are a bit too conditioned for what you are doing so your body starts to burn less calories than you expect.  And because you are working out a specific set of muscles every time you have a ton of other muscles that are underused.  Finally, often when you are doing the same workout (e.g., maybe riding the exact same stationary bike routine, maybe you are walking and focusing too much on your music and not enough on your intensity) you stop challenging yourself like you once did; your intensity drops and again you are losing less calories.  Its reasons like these that are screaming at you to mix it up! 🙂

Second, when your routine is the same every week, week in and week out, and you know what you’ll be doing six months from now (err, the same routine) it can become very easy to lose your motivation (especially if you’re not seeing the results you want or expect) and just stop your workouts.  You can get bored.  And boring workouts can result in making you just want to quit.

So its time to mix it up!  And we want to remind you of this before it gets too late – or if you were about to quit to give you a renewed sense of motivation!  Yes – you need to throw some exercises at your body that its not expecting.  You need to challenge yourself in a way that you haven’t yet.  And maybe you just need to step out and do something you’ve never done or would even consider doing for your exercise.  Let’s break out of that rut!

So we’ve compiled just a short list of ideas to help you do just that!  The following ideas should give your brain a different challenge, keep you motivated either by adding a “fun” element to your workout or just giving you something you would never have thought of trying.

• Call some of your friends and invite them to your workout – You may ask how this will accomplish these goals, but when you get your friends together you’ll see yourself achieving different intensities, find yourself maybe being a touch competitive and just have fun laughing at yourself as you all workout together!
• Find a workout you would never have tried and give it a shot – Think you would have never tried a step aerobics class, or swimming, a Zumba class, or even running?  Find something (maybe even with one of your friends) and give it a try!  You might find you like it and will at the very least throw something at your body its not expecting.
• Vary your workout length and intensity – The same distance at the same incline for the same number of minutes can become too easy on your body.  Put down your magazine (if that’s a problem), vary your speed and resistance like you never have done before and keep your body guessing.
• Find a workout where you would never expect it – Sometimes you just need to think outside the box.  Have kids and taking them to the playground?  Instead of doing whatever you  normally do turn it into your next workout!  Either play tag with the kids or turn the playground equipment into your next set of strength training.
• Ask your friends what they do to workout – Just asking your friends what they do to workout can give you ideas and help your brainstorm different ideas on activities you might want to try.
• Do the exact opposite of what you are doing now – If you’re currently doing more aerobic activities find ways to implement some strength training into the mix.  If you are doing class exercises see if you can find something more by yourself.  No matter what your are doing just try to find an opposite activity and go do it.
• If you don’t think you have the time find just one thing every week or so to mix it up – Sometimes you just might think there is nothing else you can do.  Well, fear not because just finding one activity every week or two just might help you mix it up a bit.  Instead of planning a night out at the movies maybe come up with a more active date night.  Instead of a leisurely activity on a Saturday find a hike for the family or something else that will get you moving and mix it up to get your body reacting again to new challenges.
• Get really creative – We’re not just merely recommending you find activities at a gym or that you can do from home.  Keep your eyes out for clubs, activities and classes that are all over.  We’ve seen ballroom dancing classes, square dancing classes, hiking clubs, bicycling clubs and more ideas out there.  You can sign up for mud runs, walk-a-thons, and even a 5K (you don’t have to be the best to signup for activities like these – just a willingness to have fun!).  Think only kids can rollerskate?  Think again!  Maybe a day at the laser tag place is what you need.  Maybe a couple of quick Google searches to find fitness opportunities in your area are what you need.  When you keep your options open and look for them everywhere you go you might be surprised at what you find.

Are you ready to take your exercise routine to the next level?  Are you ready to break through that plateau that you have either hit or might hit soon?  We encourage you to use some of these ideas to keep your challenge – and your overall health and fitness for the rest of your life – at a maximum with the end goal of amazing results!

Feel free to either leave a comment below on other ideas you might have or come over to our 90-Day Fitness and Health Challenge group on Facebook and share with us how you plan to mix it up and keep on pushing on!

Plus don’t forget the great ways to keep in touch with us on this challenge:

• If you haven’t signed up yet – come join us from the very beginning by clicking on the 90-Day Fitness and Health Challenge and sign up to start receiving your automated challenge from the very beginning!
• Come join our Fitness and Health Challenge with The Thrifty Couple Facebook Group HERE and ask to join us there.  Everyone is sharing their updates, asking questions and encouraging one another on in their journey – we would love to have you join in as well!  You can invite friends and spouses too to keep you going as well.
• Follow our journey on Instagram – Thrifty Health Couple – a place where we share daily updates of diet, health and how we are doing!  You can also check out #90dayhealthttc to track everyone else that posts for this challenge as well.

Disclaimer: We are not licensed health professionals.  We are only a couple that are excited to offer you a place where you can find encouragement and resources to help you in your quest for health, weight loss and fitness.  Any tips we share should not be construed as medical advice but is only there to let you know of other options for your health.  If you have questions or before starting any weight loss or fitness challenge please make sure to talk to your doctor.