BORED? Don't Be a Baby: Change up Your Workout Routine This Holiday Season!

So, yesterday I was bumming around the apartment, contemplating what time to go to the gym, when my roommate suggested we try taking a group fitness class for a change. I immediately thought, 'great idea,' for I knew if I just went to the gym it would turn into yet another run-of-the-mill workout: boorrringgggg. 

I've always been an advocate for changing up your fitness routine, but lately since I've been pressed for time, I haven't really been following my own advice. I admit it: I'm guilty. I used to be so diverse, taking a challenging step class one day, running 3 miles outside the next day followed by yoga the following day, etc. etc. But lately, I've just been plane old Jane, getting stuck in a rut.

Anyway, I took the hour long spinning class with my friend, and it felt great to do something different for a change, challenging my body in a different way. Granted, the instructor wasn't that great and the music was a mush of horrendous of songs gone wrong, I still had a good time and definitely wasn't as bored as I'd be on the elliptical.

So I challenge you to do something out of the norm today when you're working out! Maybe that's practicing intervals (short bursts of high speed activity) instead of your usual slow jog, or trying something completely new like that Forrest Yoga class offered at your gym.

 If you're normally a read-a-mag ipod gal while you're charging through your cardio drill, try going au naturel (well, with clothes on but you get the point) to really concentrate on your workout at hand. Never dared to go into the "man world" and lift weights? Come out of your shell, and stop being silly: strength training is for women as well and can actually work wonders for toning up your bod!

Come up with your own creative ideas as well to challenge yourself in unique ways! Christmas is just around the corner, and New Year's is shortly after that, so this is the time to make big changes and big moves. 

Trust me on this one, if you aren't bored already with your same old routine you surely will be in no time. Plus, studies show that changing up your workout routine not only helps challenge your body in new, different ways, but it also helps you see results faster!

So get out of that plateau girl, and start changing it up. Maybe your dream jeans you're dying to squeeze into by 2010 will fit before you know it after all!