Organic Spa Magazine April 2013 Three New Ways to Bust an Exercise Rut

Wanted to share with you this repost written by my AMAZING fit biz friend, Nicole Dorsey, M.S., in Organic Spa's April, 2013 issue. Thanks for featuring the Core Transformer specialty exercise resistance bands and me, Linda LaRue, of course!

Organic Spa Magazine April 2013 Cover

Strategy 1: Use your Core

If you can type in your favorite program on the elliptical machine without looking up from Dr. Phil, and you can jog laps around the track with your eyes closed, you have also stopped seeing fitness successes and probably ditched your exercise resolve too.

“Bodies adapt to the same-old workout in just four to six weeks, so you’ll stop seeing results fairly quickly,” says exercise physiologist Linda LaRue, creator of the Core Transformer fitness DVD series.

If you find that really depressing, well, so do we. But help is on the way. “Integrate little changes each week by switching your speed, cardio frequency, distance and duration, even the exercise itself,” says LaRue, who trains Los Angeles sports teams and private clients across Hollywood. Try these boredom-busting fitness routines to ignite your fat-burning repertoire and get over your exercise blahs in time  for bikini season.

Strategy 2: Get Wet

After swimming laps in the pool to warm-up, alternate calisthenics on the pool deck with swimming fast-as-you-can laps in the pool. “After one lap, jump out of the pool and do 20 squats, swim a lap and jump out to do 20 push-ups, swim a lap and do 20 plies and keep alternating for 20 to 30 minutes,” LaRue said.

Strategy 3: Add a Skill

One of the fastest ways to smoke calories is to combine one mode of exercise that you know with another that is unfamiliar, say the experts. Instead of your regular 30-minute bike bore, try 15 minutes on a rower first. Or if you’ve never taken a belly dancing or Zumba class, sign up for one. Variety and spontaneity are key for continuous exercise success,says LaRue. As with anything in life,  “Blast out of your comfort zone and try new things.”

Boxing, kickboxing and Pilates are all workouts that whittle your core muscles and target other muscles groups along the way. “Add a weighted resistance tube and practice core strength exercises every day if you can,” she says. Other solid muscle-toning core practices include flow yoga, rowing and ‘Strong Abs” classes such as Core Transformer sessions.