Add Some Variety To Your Fitness Routine

Have you ever heard of the “paradox of choice”?
How about “paralysis by analysis”?

I’m sure you have and if you haven’t, the paradox of choice breaks down to having too many choices and options which are making us unhappier in our lives by needing to make too many decisions. And paralysis by analysis is just over-thinking things and causing you not to take action.

Both can hold us back from really hitting our goals, and I feel both are what stop a majority of people that want to start taking care of their health more in the first place.
They say the hardest step to take is the first one, probably because it requires you to actually make a complete decision on not just one thing but many, for example; when, where, how, with whom, etc, etc. But after all these things are set, it becomes a habit and we start seeing results. And then another interesting thing happens to our psyche. We determine that it must be the “end all, be all” answer to everything and we tell all our friends and family. This is especially prominent in fitness.

Since we tend to only consider one way of exercising (let’s say ‘running’), we see that it produces some results and we come to the conclusion that we must continue to do the same thing since it produces results. We get stuck. We get what’s called “tunnel vision” and can only see what we want to see.

You know this person; it could be any fitness fanatic. It’s the guy in the gym only lifting weights 7 days a week; the friend that only runs outside and loves to just do marathons. You have friends that swear that yoga is the best way to get into shape and of course there is always a Crossfit crew to convince you to join them.

But something is off here. Fitness is not just one thing you do, it’s all-encompassing. It’s your health, your life, and how much you enjoy it. I know you love what you do. We all do. I’m addicted to lifting weights, but even in my own training I know there are things I need to incorporate to make me a better functioning human.

All the forms of fitness and exercise I mentioned above play a role into our everyday lives. Which is why I highly recommend you mix it up and add some variety to your training.

Sure, you are not going to try and combine everything into one day. But you could also split it up. If you are mostly into running, add some strength training to strengthen your bones and muscles to run faster and reduce your risk of injuries.

If you are only lifting weights, start incorporating some version of steady state cardio to help work the “aerobic” side of your heart and cardiovascular system. I really enjoy incline treadmill walking. It gets you sweating and that heart pumping without running.

Finally, I would recommend everyone gets some version of yoga in their weekly schedule. You could go to a class or you could even search for online videos that you can do at home once a week or more for comfort. And yoga-fanatics don’t think you can skip out on the strength training. It will help you hold your poses better and maintain bone density as we get older.

Overall just go and explore. Find out what you love and then find more things you might love. This life is about enjoying a variety of things, not being overwhelmed by choices and become paralysed by what we “must” do.

Mix up your training and you will not get burnt out as easily, find out new things about yourself, expand your social circles, and be a more interesting human because of the variety of things you can do.

If you are looking for a way to incorporate strength training into your current training cycle go to www.KaliCoaching.com and see if having an online personal trainer will work for you and your goals.