Are You Stuck in an Exercise Rut? Take this Quiz and Find Out

Be Honest With Yourself

At The Fuse Fitness Studio, we are always pushing the comfort zone to gain greater muscle and cardiovascular strength, endurance, flexibility and balance. 

Have you been exercising for awhile, yet you don’t notice the desired results?  There may be a number of reasons you are not getting to where you want to go. Take this short quiz to help identify ways you could increase your health and fitness.

Question 1 

Is walking or jogging sufficient exercise to ensure a strong and healthy body?  

Answer

Walking, jogging or any other form of cardiovascular training is only one part of an exercise regime. Strength, balance, endurance and flexibility training are also essential to a healthy and fit body. Consider adding more, new and/or different types of exercises to your workout routine. For an example of a good, basic strength and balance exercise see our previous blog post.

Question 2

Is it more valuable to do many repetitions of an exercise quickly or do less repetitions slowly and with greater control?

Answer

Often people think “more is better”, but if you do not do exercises with proper form, you risk injuring yourself. Take the time to do your exercises properly. Often when an exercise is done right, it is more difficult. 

Sloppy form can be the result of your body not being strong enough to do an exercise properly. If you need to do less repetitions for now, that is okay. 

Also, many basic exercises, for example, like the push-up, have modifications to make them easier. Do exercises properly and eventually you will build up both your strength and your reps, while avoiding injury.

If you do not know how to do an exercise, sessions with a personal trainer or group classes will help.

Question 3

Is it important to have a variety of exercises in your day-to-day routine?

Answer

Variety is not only the spice of life, it is an important component of your exercise routine. Switching up what you do, for how long and at what speed makes a big difference. Changes in routine keeps your body’s muscles “guessing” and having to work harder and smarter.

Also, variety in your workout helps keep you mentally engaged and having fun. The internet is filled with exercise videos, check them out, just make sure you are working up to, but not over your limit.

Question 4

If you workout, should you increase the amount you eat?

Answer

If you increase your workout intensity and/or duration, you might feel your appetite increase. That does not necessarily mean that you should increase your caloric intake. 

Keep a daily food intake log for a week or two to estimate your actual caloric intake. Check out this site to estimate how many calories you should consume given your gender, age, height, current weight, activity level and weight loss/maintenance goals. Really simplified; weight management has to do with caloric intake versus calories burned. The best foods to eat are fresh, unprocessed and don't come in a package.

Question 5

What is more effective for fat loss, interval training (set time for the work period and a set time interval for the rest period) or steady rate cardiovascular training?

Answer

Fat loss comes primarily from interval training. Varying the intensity of exercise during your workout session will help increase your metabolism. This boost in your metabolism lasts even after you stop exercising.

Check with Your Doctor

Of course there are medical reasons you might not be losing weight and/or able to increase your fitness level, so if in doubt, check with your doctor. Talk to her about what you are experiencing and if you get a clean bill of health, you can always change up your workout to include some of the ideas mentioned above. 

If we can be of any help, let us know. Come to a class or schedule a one-on-one session to evaluate your fitness strengths and weaknesses. Our goals is to help you reach yours.