Every expert, every professional and every experienced fitness enthusiast will tell you that you have to change your fitness regimen every once in a while – sticking to a single workout plan for a long time won’t shape your muscles properly and may cause damage to your body (bones, muscles, tissue in general, etc.). Now that the New Year’s has passed, the time is perfectly right to at least start planning a fitness regimen switch-up – the days are getting longer, spring is around the corner, and you don’t want the first sunny day to catch you off-guard and unmotivated.

Change the exercise type focus

The two major workout categories have been, and will always be, divided into two categories: aerobic and resistance. The former category focuses on no- or low-added-weight training that features cardio exercises that are efficient fat burners, while resistance-based workouts include everything from weightlifting to typical bodyweight exercises that focus on muscle growth and/or toning.

Of course, you are probably well-aware of all this, so why mention it? Well, because it’s essential that you realize that there is no bigger exercise switch-up than moving from one type to the other! If your body has gotten used to gym-oriented workouts, switch things up and start focusing on cardio, or vice-versa. Of course, it is essential that you include both main types of workout in your fitness regimen and merely change the focus, but the goal is to avoid adaptation.

Switch up the workout time

Time is actually your worst enemy when it comes to workouts – people are simply too busy to squeeze in sessions into their day. Besides, any sort of routine becomes, well, too routine after a while, and even a 15-minute workout regimen can start getting tedious if exercised (pun not intended) for too long.

Planning is essential here – start by calculating how many minutes of workout you can squeeze into an entire week – 500? 900? 100? Anything goes and everything is perfectly understandable. Let’s say that you can’t do more than 200 minutes per week; this leaves you with roughly 30 minutes of workout per day. I’ll get to the point soon enough. Still with me? Good!

Now, while a half-an-hour-a-day workout is perfectly appropriate, after a while, this will start getting tedious. Well, here’s where we get to the point of planning your workout week up front: divide the 200 minutes up differently! For example, do hour-long workouts every other day, and this will leave you with 3-4 exercise days per week! Also perfectly fine! Trust me, this will motivate you!

Change up the sociality of it

Some people love working out with their buddy, while others are more on the loner side. Regardless of the type you might belong to, jumbling this up can, too, help you provide yourself with a regimen switch-up. Sign up for modifiable group fitness classes even if you prefer working out alone, as this will provide you with a necessary change-up that your workout self may not even be aware of.

Alternatively, if you are used to having a workout buddy by your side, perhaps try going at it alone for a while.

The point here is that, although a gym buddy can break the tedium of your exercise sessions, hanging out by yourself might make you think about your actual workout and may help you focus on other things. On the other hand, an input from someone else is of huge value to someone who’s used to working out alone.

Switching things up in your workout regime is incredibly useful and important. Whether it’s the exercise type that you choose to change, or the time and the social aspect of it, you can rest assured that with every switch-up, a level of tedium and boredom is broken. Changing up your fitness regimen can actually be hugely motivational!