[MindiV]

Ever since the end of July 2007 my workout has been mostly the same....Cardio M-F and weights M,W and F.

On the cardio I've done the recumbent bike and elliptical trainer, for the most part. There's also a treadmill, but I'm not a big fan because of shin pain. I'm doing 35-45 minutes of cardio per day.

But I've hit a wall, and a suggestion for breaking a plateau is to break up your exercise routine. I'm looking for suggestions...should I throw in the treadmill and toss out the bike a couple of days a week? Or are there any good workout videos I could do once or twice a week? And is there any good to yoga?

[mandalinn82]

First, on yoga - yes! It has great strength benefits and burns a surprisingly high amount of calories.

On the weights - have you been increasing the weight/changing up your routine? Up the weights, change to more advanced exercises, or start using supersets (multiple exercises done with no rest in between that work the same muscle group) or doing exercises that work both large muscle groups and smaller ones at the same time (like squats with a bicep curl).

On the cardio - are you doing all steady-state cardio (working at one pace for the entire time period)? Have you ever tried High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)? You might find this interesting:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-in...erval_training

[MindiV]

Thanks Mandalinn....

I've been wondering a lot about yoga. Here a while back I had a moment of "insanity" and bought a Yoga for Dummies DVD on Ebay, but never did anything with it. I may look into a serious yoga workout program...thanks!

As far as weights, I'm increasing my amounts by 10 pounds or so, about once a month. I may not have been very good about variety, though. I've recently changed to a new routine, but could probably throw in some of the old stuff, and some new stuff, as well. Next time the lady in charge at my little workout center is there, I'll ask her about new things I can throw in.

Cardio-wise, it's probably too steady on the elliptical trainer. I do a program on the bike that uses different resistance levels, and I change up the intensity there. I like the HIIT idea...that'll throw a kink into things. In a good way.

Thanks!!!!