Want to spice up your workout routine and stimulate muscle growth? Are you tired of doing the same things in the gym over and over again?
If so, it’s time to revamp your workouts and try something new. This way you’ll shock your body and experience muscle and strength gains. Not to mention that you’ll avoid boredom and stay motivated over the long haul.
There are plenty of ways to keep your workouts fun and exciting. Simple things, such as increasing the number of reps, performing supersets, and getting a workout buddy, can go a long way to improving your overall performance.
Here are six easy tips to spice up your workouts and get the most out of your time in the gym:
Try New Exercises
Start by adding new exercises to your workout routine, such as sissy squats, pistol squats, walking lunges, standing cross rows, and planks. Despite their effectiveness, these moves are often overlooked.
Most regular gym goers have probably never tried planks or burpees. Always begin with a light weight, do 13-15 reps with good form, and then increase the load. Continue this process until you fail to complete 10-12 reps with proper form.
Make Small Changes
Another simple way to spice up your workout is to change the number of reps and sets, the order of exercises, and rest periods. This keeps you progressing and stimulates muscle growth.
Try to do at least one thing different every time you train. Whether it’s a drop set, a new exercise, or an extra rep, you’ll notice the difference right away. This strategy will allow for increased maximum lifts and help you avoid plateaus.
Consider Outdoor Activities
Working out in the gym is great, but sometimes it can get boring. Pick one day a week to try some outdoor activities like cycling, jogging, kayaking, hiking, or swimming. This way, you’ll get a full body workout and burn fat.
Many of these activities promote lean muscle growth and help you stay fit all year round. According to health experts, working out outdoors may strengthen your immune system, increase metabolic rate, and give your joints a break.
Do some supersets
Next time you go to the gym, increase workout intensity with supersets. This strategy ill shock your muscles into extreme growth.
Supersets help you increase muscle size and strength, boost your overall endurance, and add variety to your workouts. When doing supersets, you’re basically performing two exercises in a row with little or no rest in between.
This way, you’ll maximize your workout, burn more calories, and spend less time in the gym. A typical superset can include machine leg presses and lying leg curls, wide grip pull-ups and push-ups, cable side laterals and seated dumbbell presses, or close grip bench presses and barbell curls.
Try Giant Sets
A giant set consists of three of more exercises with less than one minute of rest between them. These can be very intense, forcing your body to activate more muscle fibers than usual. Rest time should be kept to a minimum so your workout can be completed in 30 to 45 minutes.
You can mix deadlifts, chin-ups, close grip pull downs, and dumbbell rows for the back, squats, leg press, and leg extensions for your tights, and flat bench press, decline bench press, and incline barbell bench press for your chest. This workout technique will get your heart pumping and revamp your metabolism. It’s also a great way to gain size and strength.
Get a workout partner
Have you ever considered working out with a partner? This way, you’ll be able to lift heavier loads, try more advanced exercises, and have fun – all at the same time.
A workout buddy will keep you safe and help you prevent injuries. He can also force you to tap into those extra reserves of energy and strength, and take your workout to a whole new level.
The perfect training partner will correct any form mistakes, provide competition, and get you out the door when you lack motivation.
If the workout partner is fitter or stronger than you, that’s even better. A little competition is always a good thing. The best part about having a workout partner is that time goes by faster, especially during those boring cardio sessions.