Pushing Yourself While Working Out

Working out as a parent requires that you make time for yourself to actually get it done. If you’re just getting started on moving to a more active lifestyle, then this will seem like a pretty tough task. Once you’ve made the effort and have made the time for your workouts, you’ll find that at some point you are no longer seeing the progress you may have hoped. You’ve plateaued in your journey - you need to push a little harder.

Whenever you start something new, you generally will find that progress will be a bit faster at the beginning. Unless there’s a really high learning curve, which is certainly the case in some things, you’ll be able to very quickly pick things up right from the start and see improvement. Such is the case with fitness and working out - you’ll feel like the first few months you’re really able to get a lot better at whatever you do.

When that inevitable plateau comes, you’re going to have to make a decision. Do you accept that you’re as far as you’ll get? Or are you going to push yourself a bit harder? The easiest path is to just maintain at your plateau level. You don’t have to think about getting better or figure out how to get past it. While maintaining is certainly better than not doing anything, pushing yourself is definitely better.

Pushing yourself in your fitness journey can take on different meanings. It doesn’t always mean you go harder on the exercise that you’re doing. Of course, that’s certainly one option. Pushing yourself harder in the thing that you’re doing can be one of the options. This can be a really great way to progress if you’re actually able to go harder - that won’t always be possible though as you’ll hit a wall at some point.

One example of where this works for me is in riding my bike. I’m generally on a stationary bike, and one of the things that I do is add a few minutes each ride at a higher level of intensity every single ride. It’s usually 5 to 10 minutes per ride that I increase the intensity up from my last session. Once I’m able to complete an entire ride at the higher intensity, I then push up again - over time I build up to a higher level.

Unfortunately, in weight training, this isn’t always possible. You’ll likely hit a wall at some point. When you can’t add more weight or can’t push harder, then another option is to push yourself by trying new exercises and training. If you’re always doing the same thing, then changing your routine is a great way to help your body learn and adapt. Come back to where you plateaued later to see if you’re able to push past it.

Mixing your routines up can be one of the best options available. Rather than doing the same yoga session every day, do yoga one day, and then weight training another. Your body will appreciate you focusing on different parts of your body and giving it different exercises to complete. It will also take your body a bit longer to adapt to your routine if you’re mixing things up more often.

Making sure you’re pushing yourself a bit harder during your training. You’ll find that you can get stronger and better at whatever you doing if you really want to.