Expanding Your Fitness Vocabulary

Life is often cyclical, especially when it comes to fitness. Many people get into and out of shape from year-to-year and month-to-month, and eventually get exasperated over the seeming impossibility of maintaining hard earned results. Achieving a balanced fitness lifestyle in order to "make it" over the long haul should be the goal of every person. And expanding your fitness vocabulary is one of the first steps towards keeping things interesting.

Whereas your linguistic vocabulary is made up of words and their uses, an enlarged "fitness vocabulary" is simply knowing more ways to move your body. How many of us only know a handful of exercises that we use over and over in what we call "working out"? Well over 50% of gym goers spend their 30 minutes to one hour on a treadmill, elyptical, or other cardio machine. Even those who venture into the free weights area stick with basics like chest presses and curls. It's time to break these patterns, take a step or two out of our comfort zones, and make fitness interesting again! Here's how:

Ask Your Neighbor: In my experience, people I meet at the gym are notoriously helpful and engaged when you ask for help. See an interesting exercise? You can certainly do a little mimicry to add something new to your library. However, sometimes you could use some instruction in order to get the motions right and to prevent injury, so why not just ask?

Take Classes: And not just the same class every week. Experiment! Cardio Kickboxing, Yoga, Total Body, Plyometrics... they all have their uses, and variety will keep your mind and body engaged. Every class is different, and every trainer does it a little differently. Most gyms already include classes in the price of your membership!

Work with a Trainer: Even if it's just a few sessions, you can learn a lot from fitness professionals. To prevent injury, you don't just want to "go through the motions", you want to make sure that your form is correct and that you're actually working the appropriate part of your body. Don't have money for a trainer? At the very least, take advantage of that free intro session that most gyms offer when you sign up!

Home Fitness: It takes some extra motivation, but not all videos are junk. Plus, they can instruct at any level. I started out myself with the P90X system, and ended up with amazing results. I learned tons of new moves and how to get a great workout without lots of equipment.

Alternative Gyms: In some parts of the country, your typical 24-hour or Gold's are becoming outdated models. CrossFit affiliates, for example, teach elite athletic moves at any level. Or else local Boot Camps can get you out of the house, turning the outdoors into a cross-training wonderland.

Tap Your Friends: Your network of friends may be more fit than you realized simply because it never came up in conversation. We all do fitness a little differently, and it's even more fun to exchange knowledge with our inner circle.

Once you've amassed an overflowing fitness vocabulary, you'll get even more than you bargained for - in a good way. You'll be less bored. You're body will be constantly improving from all the variety. You'll save time because you won't always have to go to the gym just to break a sweat. You'll meet new people who are equally as enthusiastic about an on-going fitness lifestyle!

To see how I keep expanding my fitness vocabulary, you can read my personal blog at robgetsripped.com