BEAT IT

By Paul Dexter, Copyright 2014

With exercise, Progression is the name of the game. You must be prepared to “Beat” what you previously did before. That doesn’t mean that you have to get exponentially stronger every single time you workout. It means a multitude of things; increase of weight, increase of reps, or overall quality of the set. It also has to do with your cardiovascular exercise as well; decrease the time it takes you to do a certain distance, increase the distance in a certain amount of time, or increase your base and spring pace of your intervals.
Homeostasis is what the human body strives for. It does not want to change. Therefore, you must challenge the body. Put the body into an alarming state that it feels uncomfortable. What it will then do, is try to prepare itself for the next time you put it to the test (by getting stronger, or more conditioned). Use this to your advantage, as your body adapts, continue to challenge it so your progress continues.
Your body wants to be in a comfort zone. It will adapt quickly, so that your exercises become easier. You can’t stay there, because you will go in reverse. Force your body out of its comfort zone to maximize your results. When you hit a plateau, change the routine, the exercise, or any of the 7 loading parameters (ask your trainer).
Unfortunately, reading a magazine while walking on the treadmill will not change your body – unless you were bed ridden for a month previously. Lifting the same weights for the same amount of reps, time after time, will not change your body either. Nothing worth having ever comes without some hard work attached to it.