Staying Motivated

A large majority of the population has tried exercising in the past but unfortunately, most give it up after a short while due to lack of motivation.
But those who are committed to the gym long after all their co-workers have given up on those New Year's resolutions say there are tricks to stay motivated and finally reach your fitness goals.
The main thing committed exercises have in common is that they do not exercise just to lose weight. They see exercise as a form of recreation or social connection. In other words, they actually enjoy going to the gym or for a jog.
That's not as ridiculous as it may sound to some. The gym can seem very boring if you go on your own, day in and day out. But if you try going with friends or join classes where you can meet new friends who share your health goals, all of a sudden you will be having fun and actually look forward to a regular sweat.
Many people quit working out because they get bored. Working out with friends, trying new exercises or classes or even new sports will keep you interested. Not only will you have more fun, but you will burn more calories because your muscles will be challenged in new and different ways.
Another trick to use to keep you going to the gym is repetition. Experts say for something to become a habit, a person has to do it for 21 days straight. This doesn't just apply to the gym but to all facets in life. So the next time you are thinking of joining the gym or beginning a new workout regimen, commit yourself to just 3 or 4 weeks. At the end of that period, you will find that you no longer have to force yourself to put your trainers in your gym bag. You'll actually want to go to the gym.
If you really don't like going to the gym, remember that physical activity comes in all forms. Put your joggers on and walk around the mall before you hit the sales, or get in the backyard and do some gardening. One trainer I spoke to suggested to his clients that they thoroughly clean one room in their house every week in place of a workout.
The point is not to think of exercise as something that is difficult and strenuous, but as something that should be added to your life in different, creative ways.

Lifting Past Your Plateau

If you’ve been lifting weights for a while you may notice that your gains have slowed down. That’s because you may not be challenging your muscles enough.

Muscles adapt using progressive overload. This means that as you overload your muscle, it will grow until the weight you are using is no longer a challenge for that muscle. You then have to overload it again, with a higher weight, to get it to grow more.

There are other ways to increase the intensity of your lifts to bring muscle gains even faster.

Forced reps – Forced reps help you lift past your point of failure. The next time you are doing a shoulder raise, have a spotter stand behind you. Once you can no longer lift the weight, have your spotter help you lift a couple of more reps. These extra reps will really work your muscles. An added bonus will be that your metabolism will work even harder because of the intensity of this method. If you are working out alone, try training one arm or one leg at a time. Then use your other arm or leg to help out with the last few lifts.

Obviously, with this method, safety should come first. Do not do extra lifts where the weight is above your head or chest without a spotter.

2. Drop sets – Drop sets help you squeeze out as much out of a muscle as possible. This method has you do your full set of lifts with a certain weight. Once you can no longer lift that weight, you put that dumbbell or barbell down and immediately pick up a lighter weight and continue lifting. This will really fatigue your muscle so that you get the best gains possible.

Again, be very careful when lifting above your head or chest without a spotter. You may not realize just how tired your muscles really are.

3. Partial Reps – A lifting rep usually requires that you move your joint through a full range of motion. For example, a bicep curl starts with your arm extended and ends with it fully contracted. You will find that as your muscle gets tired, it becomes harder for you to move the weight up through the lower part of the repetition. At that point, bend your arm to 90% and do a few more reps from that angle, so you are only doing part of the rep. You will find these will be easier for you. Continue making the movement smaller and smaller as you are able to move the weight through less and less range of motion until you can no longer move it at all. You have reached true failure.

4. Superset – While you may do two or three different types of exercises for one muscle group, you probably rest between those exercises. This method requires that you do all the exercises back-to-back, without rest, so that you are truly fatiguing your muscle and hitting all the different parts or heads of that muscle.

Once again, we have to stress the need for safety for these methods. These should never be tried by beginner lifters and even intermediate lifters should use spotters. Also, be aware of over-training. These methods should not be done more than once a week. Gradually work them in and know the difference between good pain and pain that can result in injury. If you do these exercises safely, you will see gains like never before.