Pump it up!

Good Morning Women!

It's into the 3rd week for many of us, and consistency should be starting to pay some dividends.  In week 3-4 of a regular effort, improvements should be starting to reveal themselves...lifting more, better endurance, ever so slightly more flexibility.  Hopefully you've all had a little A Ha! or breakthrough for your dedication so far.

Of course - an Amazon is not easily satisfied!  So, where do you go next to keep those changes coming?

A few 'rules':

1. only change one variable at a time - that way, whatever you experience can be attributed to that change (variables are: resistance, speed, duration / reps, environment) - if it's a positive change, keep it up; if it's a negative change, you'll know which element to correct
2. limit increases to no more than 10% at a time - so if you're running 30 min, increase your duration by 3 min; lifting 20#, increase by 2#
3. increase only one aspect of your fitness per week (strength, flexibility OR endurance - not AND)

Following these simple rules will allow you to push yourself to new levels with little risk of injury, overtraining or exhaustion while allowing your body some resources to adapt to the new stresses.

Considering the variables, let me give you some examples:
     resistance - with weights this clearly means more pounds, for cardio it means more 'tug' - hills if on
          foot or a bike, pull buoys in the pool, etc
     speed - with endurance activities it's easy to understand moving faster, for flexibility this may mean
          active stretching and with strength training it can mean plyometrics (bound/rebound exercise)
     environment - for flexibility this could include a Bikram (hot) yoga class; for strength training it may
          mean decreasing your stability (exercise on a ball or trampoline) and in endurance activity it
          includes a trail, sand or outdoors v. in

Without variation your body will quickly adapt and become more efficient at the activity you are doing.  That means you'll burn fewer calories and make slower improvements (if any at all).  Mix it up!  Pump it up!  Get your effort's worth...you deserve it!