John KIRAGU
- Jan 27
- 4 min read

How to change your workout routine for better results

"Changing your workout routine for better fitness has various parameters, such as increasing the workout duration, changing the rep schemes and exercises, increasing the number of sets, resting less, and increasing the resistance."

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A better fitness routine facilitates endurance, muscle tone, fat loss, and strength. Whether you are lifting weights to improve your muscle growth and strength or focusing on strength training and cardio, switching things up is crucial. Here are some guidelines for switching your fitness routine at an optimal time that facilitates better results and new stimuli.

1. Change your resting time and add variety to your favorite workout

Reducing the resting intervals when doing weight training, running, HIIT, or cycling keeps your heart rate elevated, increases your metabolic demand, and provides new challenges to the muscles. Interval workouts such as 30 seconds of sprinting, 2 minutes of running, or a minute of planking enable you to burn more calories during your workout and promote your metabolism for approximately 48 hours.

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Performing various workouts enables you to progress and keep your workout routine exciting and fresh. Adding variety to your favorite exercises by changing the resistance (kettlebell, medicine ball, or body weight), minimizing the duration of rest between exercises, pausing at the bottom or top of the practice, and adding at least 1.5 reps offers a wide challenge to your body for the motivation and improvement.

2. Work on improving your strength

Focusing on strength is a great way to advance progress as well as prevent injuries - no matter the fitness goal. Exercises that we are comfortable with and grabbing weights that we can handle for about 3 months facilitate progress. Improving your strength enhances muscle tone, improves posture, reduces injuries, makes your daily activities easier, and improves bone density. You can improve by increasing your weights by 5 pounds, increasing the number of sets or reps, and increasing your resistance from the previous week.

Incorporating strength workouts into your routine, such as planks, push-ups, inverted rows, farmer's carries, split squats, and goblet squats, will not only make you fitter and stronger but also help your body develop better body mechanics, burn calories efficiently, and improve your weight management. Depending on your fitness goal, you should rest 2–5 minutes between weight gain sets, about 20-120 seconds for muscle endurance, and 60–90 seconds to increase muscle size or boost hypertrophy.

3. Use different equipment

Accessing various workout equipment will help you improve your physical fitness and strengthen your muscles while challenging your body with new tactics. Body weight workouts and training equipment such as bands, kettlebells, ropes, sleds, medicine balls, slideboards, and versaclimbers make your fitness routine fun, keep things fresh, and aid in the success of your fitness goal.

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Training equipment aid in the improvement of flexibility, strength, and the facilitation of a continuous attack in various areas of the body. Various different pieces of equipment also have numerous benefits including:

Healthy weight loss
Increases power and strength
Promotes both anaerobic and aerobic workouts that facilitate physical wellbeing.
Help prevent health issues such as obesity, diabetes, and heart problems.

4. Incorporate circuit training

By incorporating circuits into your fitness routine, you can spice up your workout routine. It is a great way to challenge your normal routine, build muscles, burn fat, and get better results within a short period. Circuit training is a better way to burn fat and builds muscle than traditional cardio such as treadmill running. Circuits are a combination of about 4–8 workouts done in a row in the shortest time possible. They typically target your core, arms, back, chest, and legs. Circuit training workouts include:

10-15 repetitions of squat jumps
About 15–20 repetitions of abdominal crunches
10-15 reps of standard push-ups
Approximately 60 seconds of jump rope

A circuit workout will make your training enjoyable as it involves different movements during your fitness session. They help to improve your muscular endurance, offer a full-body workout, promote weight loss, promote workout adherence, boost your mood, and are perfect for all levels as they are highly versatile, making them suitable for individuals of all fitness levels.

5. No matter your fitness goal, avoid overtraining (don’t do everything at once)

Intense workouts without recovery, volume, or excess workout time can cause overtraining syndromes such as fatigue, loss of vigor, malaise, change in appetite, and decreased physical performance that can inhibit progress toward your fitness goals. If you notice the symptoms, it is recommended that you take at least one day off each week.

Avoid doing strength workout and intense cardio on the same day to prevent the risks of injuries and overtaxing your muscles, and also allowing your body to rest.

You should focus on building specific muscle groups such as lower body, chest/back, core, and upper body on different days for a better outcome.

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6. Pick a cardio workout you enjoy

Exercise can become boring, which can lead to poor fitness results. Picking a suitable training routine is essential, as it promotes motivation and leads to better results. Hiking, swimming, climbing stairs, rowing, biking, walking, or running are some of the cardio workouts that may enhance your progress when incorporated into a fitness routine. Consider choosing your favorite workout and avoiding repetition because your body will adjust the stress level, resulting in ineffective training results.

A consistent workout routine is essential to improving your health and fitness goals. Getting too comfortable with your workout routine and doing the same thing repeatedly can hinder you from achieving your fitness goals as the body will adapt to the stress level. Changing resting times, involving circuit training, using different fitness equipment, increasing the resistance, and picking your favorite workout will not only challenge your body, but also foster muscle tone, flexibility, strength, endurance, and fat loss that aid to better fitness results.