Clocking in at the gym and putting the time in doesn’t mean you are going to end up with the body of your dreams. Forget marathon type workouts where they only allow you to exercise half-heartedly. It is time to stop guessing and living your life in hope of waking up one day and miraculously discovering the abs you have always wanted. You must try different approaches to get the best results. You are expecting too much if you think the same exercise routine will give you everything you want. It is important to modify and experiment with different exercise routines as you go along or you will never reach your goal.

Here are some of the best ways to stop your body adapting to what you are doing and keep progress running smoothly.

#1 Assess strengths and weaknesses
Before you start do you know which muscles are tight in your body and need stretching? Do you know if other muscles are compensating when you perform a movement because of a weakness in the chain? Do you know which exercises will make your posture or pain worse? How do you know you are doing the right exercises that are right for your body? These are just some of the questions that need answering before embarking on a regular exercise programme.

#2 Train intense but keep it real
This means training within your capabilities that allows a minimum of a good technique on everything you do. This mainly points to lifting a weight that is too heavy, doing part of the range of movement or doing more reps than you can manage resulting in quick and poorly performed reps. Good reps are real reps; you can either work the body part the exercise is designed for or take the stress away from the body part by performing a poor rep, it’s as simple as that.

#3 Include big movements in your workout
Multi joint exercises work more muscles and burn more calories than isolation exercises. Most pieces of gym equipment cater for working only one or two muscles at a time. Performing multi joint exercises like squats and bent over rows correctly have the best carry over effect that helps you in work, sports and many of life’s tasks.

#4 Use gravity
Have you noticed the physiques of gymnasts? You will never see overweight or out of shape gymnast, that’s because training against gravity is one of the best things you can do to look your best. The feedback I get from clients that do bodyweight exercises within their exercise routines report how challenging and how much effort they take to perform. Make sure to include gravity-based exercises in your exercise programme. You can start off basic by doing floor exercises and work up to more demanding exercises where you push or pull your bodyweight with your feet off the ground.

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One Saturday, back in March, Jeff Herring, Felicia Slattery and I were Tweeting back and forth about writing 100 articles in 100 days. Very quickly others started joining us on our challenge, and I mean a lot of other people. Within a short period of time it seemed like we had struck a cord with people and the challenge was on.

At this point I have to give credit to original 100 articles in 100 days challenger – Connie Ragen Green. Back in 2007 Connie decided to challenge herself, and kick started her article writing on Ezine Articles. So, she set out to write 100 articles in 100 days and submit them to EzineArticles. Unfortunately, Connie didn’t write 100 articles in 100 days… she only took 78 days to get it done.

It was her story that inspired me to challenge myself to start writing. I used Connie’s story as motivation to keep me on track as it helped to give me the confidence to see this through to the finish.

However I knew to get all the way to the end I would need to do more than sitting down and busting out articles everyday. I realized I would need to take 5 steps if I expected to complete this goal.

Here are the 5 steps you can use to help reach your own goal of writing 100 articles in 100 days:

1. Write down your goal, with a deadline – This was simple: my goal was to write 100 articles in 100 days. It is critical to put your goal in writing with a deadline. The deadline is a great motivator against procrastination.

2. Make your goal public – This is the key to accountability. You need to let others know about what you plan to do. And the more people you tell the better. Go out and find the highest rooftop, and shout it at the top of your lungs.

3. Set up milestones – How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. OK, that’s an old joke. However, it holds true for any large goal. You need to break it down to small manageable parts.

4. Reward yourself – When you reach your milestones and final goal give yourself a reward. Don’t just have a reward for reaching your goal, give yourself a reward for reaching each milestone. This will serve as extra motivation along the way.

5. Get support – One of the best ways to maintain your motivation is with a support network. Get others around you who understand and support your goal.  The best support any one could find to help is to join others who are also trying to reach the same goal.

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