Hey girl, how are your 2013 workouts going? Are you killing it in the gym? Maybe you want to take your current workout up a notch but you’re not sure how?  Well you’re in the right place!  I’ve got a few ideas to makeover your current workout, or inspire you to try a completely different one.

1. Do you mindlessly read a book on the elliptical for your 30 minutes of cardio?  Are you bored on the elliptical?  So bored you think you need to read a book or magazine?  Well guess what?  Your “cardio” is so boring because you’re going slow enough to read “War and Peace”.  If you were working harder, you would not be bored. Trust me. So lets do some intervals, k?  Change up peddling forwards and backwards, change the incline and resistance.  Here’s an example for you:

• 20 seconds medium resistance, high incline, peddling forwards, going as hard as you can
• 10 seconds medium resistance, high incline, peddling forwards, slow it down to recover
• Repeat 8 times.
• 20 seconds medium resistance, high incline, peddling backwards, going as hard as you can
• 10 seconds medium resistance, high incline, peddling backwards, slow it down to recover
• Repeat 8 times.
• 1 minute peddling forwards at about 75% effort
• 1 minute peddling backwards at about 75% effort
• 20 seconds medium resistance, medium incline, peddling forwards, going as hard as you can
• 10 seconds medium resistance, medium incline, peddling forwards, slow it down to recover
• Repeat 8 times.
• 20 seconds medium resistance, medium incline, peddling backwards, going as hard as you can
• 10 seconds medium resistance, medium incline, peddling backwards, slow it down to recover
• Repeat 8 times.
• 1 minute peddling forwards at about 75% effort
• 1 minute peddling backwards at about 75% effort
• 20 seconds medium resistance, low incline, peddling forwards, going as hard as you can
• 10 seconds medium resistance, low incline, peddling forwards, slow it down to recover
• Repeat 8 times.
• 20 seconds medium resistance, low incline, peddling backwards, going as hard as you can
• 10 seconds medium resistance, low incline, peddling backwards, slow it down to recover
• Repeat 8 times.
• 1 minute peddling forwards at about 75% effort
• 1 minute peddling backwards at about 75% effort
• Done!

2. Do you have a standard set of exercises you crank out on nautilus machines?  Trade your machines in for some free weights.  Every nautilus exercise has a weight room equivalent, so get after it!

3. Do you jog at a steady pace on the treadmill for 30 minutes?  You know what I’m going to suggest, right?  Intervals!  How about sprinting your booty off (literally) with 1 minute sprints followed by 2 minutes of recovery walking.  Once you’ve conquered that, increase your sprints to 1.5 minutes with a 1.5 recovery.  Or maybe try a 1 minute jog, 1 minute sprint, 1 minute recovery combo?  The key is to sprint and recover.

4. Have you been lifting the same amount of weights forever?  Well increase them, duh.  How about for the next month you really increase the amount of weight you lift, do we dare try to double it?  Okay, well maybe not double it in every instance, but you better add at least 5 pounds.  If you’re increasing your bicep curls from 8 pounds to 15 pounds you’re not going to be able to bang out your usual 12 reps, but do what you can.  Listen to your body.

5. Do you have a regular walking date with your treadmill?  Listen, I know that for whatever reason there are a lot of people out there who are very restricted with what kinds of physical activities they can do, and that’s fine.  You can still lose weight and challenge yourself.  Try cranking up the incline, walking backwards, and even side strides.  By changing up the way you’re walking, you’ll work different parts of your legs and get a better workout.

6. Are you like me?  Do you avoid group classes at all costs? My gym has tons of classes, and I only do spinning. Kinda lame of me, right?  Well I bet there are at least a few others out there who have a similar MO, and I’m challenging you to try one class a week. We can totally do one class a week, no problem.  Oh and if you already do spinning once a week, like moi, it doesn’t count as your class.  We need to challenge ourselves to try something new.

7. Are you a gym pro who is pretty sure they are already getting everything possible out of your workout?  Well I call BS!  There is always room to improve, so let’s improve, shall we?  Try incorporating a Bosu balance trainer into your workout.  Stand on it while you do your squats, curls, presses, rows, and overhead extensions.  Flip it over for planks, push-ups, and more squats.  Try one foot on the dome when you do your lunges.  Really stick it to your abs by using the Bosu for crunches and v-sits.  When you incorporate a Bosu into your workout, you’re going to challenge yourself, especially your core, by having to keep your balance while you do your strength training and we all want a tight core, right?

All right, so which workout makeover are you going to try?  What’s that you say?  You’re going to try all of them?  Yay!  Am I pressuring you?  My bad, I’m a pusher.  That being said, there’s no reason why you can’t try a few of my workout makeover ideas, so pick a couple and let me know how it works out, please.