For the Fitness Experts: Best Way to Mix up Your Work Outs to Get Best Results

Being sore doesn't mean you are doing something right, its the bodies way of saying your muscles need rest. It is true though that we hit plateaus in our weight loss efforts. The body is designed to hoard fat, especially the female body. tricking it is the best way to go. Ive had a lot of trouble keeping my routines fresh and new, i have a lot of things that keep me from trying things (i have a 3 year old and no baby sitters(which limits a lot), Im pregnant(even more) Ive recently sprained my ankle and broken my toe, lol. I still am getting great results though because i mix it up.

If you enjoy Tae bo you should really still do it every week, but trying other activities can work the body differently. Yoga and pilates for one are low impact but they use your body weight to train you, improve your posture,breathing and form. Trying medicine balls, kettle weights, strength bands, stability balls, etc....simple props can diversify your routine and target muscles you didnt know you had.

basically the rule of thumb is that if your doing weights you want to alternate days on different areas but cardio can be done every day. You will have to up the intensity or diversify the logistics of every routine you do eventually until you hit a goal weight and then maintain.

I reccomend CrossFit. It is constantly varied and works the whole body. I am in my mid thirties and moderately over weight and it works for me. The workouts span one hour and that includes warm up, stretching, strength (or other skill of the day) and then the Work Out of the Day. The WOD is usually @ 12-20 minutes of giving it everything you've got. I dabbled in CrossFit earlier this year but I let life get in the way :( I plan on getting back in there...the results are almost instantaneous and I have never felt better! Never been to this gym but I googled CrossFit for Roselle...looks awesome!
http://www.crossfitroselle.com/

You don't need to quit it. I like to keep a mix going at all times. Right now I'm "usually" doing Zumba a few times per week, but sometimes I swap it for yoga, or weights and cardio, or jogging. They key is to keep your whole body worked out and to keep from getting burnt out by doing the same thing too much. Honesty, if you love the Tae Bo, you will still burn the same amount of calories as doing something else, so if you love it enough to stay faithful to it, AWESOME. But you can switch in some other workouts too for muscle hitting diversity for sure. I usually base my choices on my needs-if I'm heavy and need to burn off weight, I do weights and cardio, and bodycombat classes with zumba mixed in. If I'm fairly slim, I focus more on yoga with zumba mixed in. I have been reverting to zumba most for about a year because it's fun enough to keep me interested as well as all over results. It's all about how many calories you burn, using muscles so that your metabolism burns when you rest, and keeping your diet HEALTHY. With those factors in place, you'll lose weight, regardless of which specific style of workout you like.

The soreness of your muscles is not indicative of the number of calories burned :-) Your muscles are less sore because the ones you are using are getting stronger. That's a great thing. Variety in workouts can use different muscles, which is good for developing all-over strength. To lose weight, any activity that has you moving is a good one.

If you like the Tae Bo, keep doing the Tae Bo. If you can add a 1/2 hour brisk walk every day, that will help with weight loss.