Most people like to exercise in a comfort zone. They do the same activity at the same intensity and for the same amount of time each time they workout. Eventually, this can result in boredom, exercise plateaus and even injury. Crosstraining can help avoid all of these pitfalls.
Crosstraining simply means doing different types of exercise during a workout or on different exercise days. It may involve taking a cycling class on Monday, doing aerobics on Wednesday and lifting weights on Friday. Or you might weight train twice weekly and do cardio three times a week. Here are some of the benefits:
* Repeating the same activity again and again allows your body to adapt and you no longer stress your body enough to keep losing fat or gaining muscle. Sticking to just one activity can actually result in a decrease in the number of calories burned.
* To keep gaining lean muscle mass and strength you must regularly overload your muscles, not just train at the same intensity each workout. Crosstraining encourages the use of different muscle groups and different physiological systems. This is particularly true when you combine both cardiovascular and strength training.
* Performing different kinds of activities reduces boredom and burnout. You will be more likely to stick with regular exercise if you have different activites to look forward to each day.
* Because crosstraining works different muscle groups you won't fatigue as quickly and you can put more intensity and effort into each workout.
* Excessive repetitive exercise puts you at risk for overuse injuries. Varying the type and intensity of your chosen exercise will help reduce some of the common overuse injuries like patellar tendonitis, shin splints and rotator cuff injuries.
Crosstraining is a win-win situtaion. It produces great fitness results and makes your exercise routine more pleasurable. Go ahead and try a variety of activities, enjoy the benefits, and have fun!
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