About working out...

[BK_Adores_Chase]

someone at work told me that eventually, me working at home (without equipment, just using my own body/moves) will become ineffective...is this true?  Also, I hear if you are supposed to take a day break in between work outs...is this true?  What if I worked out one day, jogged the next, ect. ect...?

[queenofnines]

Working out is never "ineffective"...unless you proceed to down 3 slices of chocolate cake afterwards, that is.  What they mean is if you don't make the effort to keep your workouts creative and fresh, you won't be seeing significant gains in the areas of fitness that you are pursuing.

You don't need to take a break in-between workouts unless you are doing some heavy strength training.

[pirewolf]

Right now I am working with a personal trainer. We do working out at my house and besides three work out tool, it is with your own body. It is actually really effective, I feel it when I'm doing it. You just have to make sure that you are eating healthy. He gave me an easy diet, a website that gives you the calories of the food at restaurants so that I can still go out with my hubby. I am actually eating more now then before. He said snacks during the day are important. They help your system stay active every 2 and a half hours.

[shepherdchik]

The easiest is to just walk, even 30 minutes makes a difference. Simple things like push-ups or sit-ups and squats are easy moves that don't require machines. Just look into doing them the right way. Look into changing it up too with a jog instead of a walk or try a class like Zumba or Yoga.

[potluck6]

i should be exercising now instead of being here regular exercise is the best i think i knew a guy who ran twice a week for about an hour each the thing that amazed me was when he was done he wasn't out of breath at all. i got out of breath just thinking about it

[kapeh12]

In a manner of speaking, what your collegue said could be considered true.  I had a recent conversation with my trainer on this subject a couple weeks ago, and what he told me is that research is finding that people's bodies tend to adapt to an exercise routine fairly quickly (within a few weeks).  Once your body adapts to the routine, then the exercise becomes less effective than it was when you were first learning the routine.  The exercise becomes more muscle memory vs taking more energy/working smaller muscles (like stabilizers) when you first are learning.  It's not that the exercise becomes completely ineffective - it's just not as effective as it used to be.

The way around this is to change up your routine.  Something like having 2 or 3 different "routines" and mix & match them in different ways is the recommended strategy.  Switch up the combinations every 2 or 3 weeks.  What this does is prevents your body from getting used to any stable routine, which helps maximize the effectiveness.

This is one reason why people get "bored" with all those exercise videos - you buy one or two and work them for a month, and by the end of the month you no longer want to work them.  It's because your body adapted to the fixed routine, and basically your lack of desire is probably your body telling you it's "bored" and needs variety.

As far as taking breaks - it is a good idea to have "rest" periods incorporated to allow for recovery period.  How much recovery you need depends on how much and what type of exercises you are doing, and what your current condition is.  If you do a really hard strength workout combined with an intense stretch session - your body will probably need a day or so to recover (more if you are not used to such a workout).  From my experience, anytime my routine changes or they up the weight, I know I need a little extra recovery time as my body is moving up to the next "level".  On those recovery days (an in general) - be sure to drink plenty of water to cleanse your system - especially if you are feeling that post-exercise 24 hour burn/ache set in.  That is the lactic acid that builds up in your muscle tissue which causes the pain.  Lots of water and light massaging, or light exercise (like a stroll around the neighborhood) - helps alleviate that condition a bit faster.

I think your plan to mix things up is in line with the advice my trainer gave me.  If you feel you've gotten into a routine or feeling "bored" with your exercise - just thing of something new to toss into your exercise mix to shake things up again.

Hope some of this information is useful.

[mattc4000]

As many have posted, the key is keeping your body guessing by constantly changing your routine.  Your body gets used to everything (no matter how rigorous) and needs new challenges to see real changes.  Keep trying different exercises, or different orders, or different weights to keep the body guessing.

Good luck.

[BK_Adores_Chase]

You guys all gave awesome feedback, and I change up most of my stuff daily, the only thing I keep the same are 2 ab-targeted moves that I do because that's the main area I want to lool NIIICE!

[LenoraMinogue]

Like some of the others have already said, it's just that the routine becomes a little less effective over time. But maybe try mixing it up? If it works well for you to work out from home, I'm sure there are ways you could do that and make it worth it.