The human body is an amazing machine. It can adapt to nearly anything, and that includes exercise routines. The very act of building muscle and losing weight is an adaptive response to the stress being put on the body. If you stick to the same routine over and over again for months and years, it will obviously lose its effectiveness over time. This is why it’s important to change up your routine periodically, and to integrate a wide-variety of different types of exercise into your schedule.

Stretching

Start out your routine with stretching. Stretching every day is a good idea, but not necessary. Stretching every other is the minimum. Stretching before and after every workout is beneficial as well. Determine how naturally limber you are and add a healthy stretching regimen to your routine.

Cardio

Aerobics and cardio is important for heath and respiratory health. Adding jumping jacks, jogging, treadmill, pushups, situps, and similar core exercises to your routine will increase your stamina and increase your heart rate.

Weight Training

Improving your strength, regardless of whether you’re looking to become a body builder, is important. It can make your muscles and joints more durable and your bones stronger, and of course improve your muscle tone to make your physical fitness more apparent to everyone else.

Martial Arts

Taking up MMA, fencing, karate, tai kwon do or any other of the myriad of available martial arts can really round out your exercise routine. Make dojos and martial arts schools even provide their own balanced workouts. Martial arts can dramatically improve your coordination, reflexes, strength, speed and agility, and it’s just plain fun.

Gymnastics

Backflips, handsprings and other challenging maneuvers can be dangerous, but can also develop muscles that otherwise go neglected, and grant you a fun skill set to show off to your friends. Joining a gym with the proper gymnastic equipment can provide for you a safe environment to develop a fun pastime that’s rewarding for your overall fitness.

Parkour

Freestyle running, or parkour, is increasing popular across the world. It involves traversing city obstacles in a creative way, and while it can be a dangerous pastime, can do wonders for your physical shape. Joining a parkour club, of which there are several you can freely join in most major cities for those who search online, can be a fun social pastime that can develop your speed, coordination and agility.

The Great Outdoors

Hiking, canoeing, mountain climbing, hunting and other outdoor activities are some of the best exercise you can get, because they involve the entire body. Back in the remote days of our ancestors, they were strong not because they had treadmills and weight machines, but because they were physically active. Taking up cycling or rollerblading can be another great addition to your active lifestyle.

Mixing it Up

The real challenge is creating an eclectic and varied lifestyle that conforms to the rest of your daily activities without overloading and exhausting you. If you’re going to join a gym, you can take up both parkour and gymnastics if they provide the proper space and equipment. It can also provide weight machines and other fitness implements for you to use.

Go to the gym no more than 3 times per week to partake in these activities. During your other days, go to the martial arts dojo or spend time outside cycling or rollerblading.

Make yourself a weekly schedule, and fill each day with some sort of fitness-intensive activity. On Monday, Wednesday and Friday, you could go to the gym. On Tuesdays and Thursdays it could be Martial Arts. The weekends could be reserved for outdoor adventures. You are in control of your own fitness destiny. Have fun developing your own varied and eclectic exercise schedule!

Author Bio: Andy Carter is a contributor/writer for Simple-Flat-Stomach-Exercises.com. For more great information like this, learn about how to get a Flat Stomach and to strengthen your core muscles with Exercise Ball Exercises.

Category: Wellness, Fitness and Diet
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