How Variety in Your Workouts Can Help Build Muscle

As we enter month 3 of #stay-shelter-safer-at-home and regions of the country migrate toward opening up businesses and other public places, it’s a good time to solidify your workout foundation before new distractions emerge. Variety in your workouts can help build muscle, while also helping you avoid boredom. While some superhumans have the discipline to do the same exercise repeatedly to achieve specific pre-pandemic goals, such as the ultramarathoner who ran 100 miles in his Brooklyn, NY apartment, most of us are seeking a more balanced, total body workout.

A varied training plan brings both physiological and psychological benefits helping prevent overuse and repetitive stress injuries, increasing mental acuity while also helping maintain excitement for consistent exercise. Additionally, varied workout exercises include different muscle groups, targeting unique energy systems, both aerobic and anaerobic. Plateauing is a big hindrance for most people because they focus on training one area or muscle group over another. When it comes to your overall health and muscle maintenance or growth, enhancing variety in your workout regimen reduces the likelihood of plateauing. Here are the different types of muscle building workouts and how you can use the Gorilla Bow as part of your boredom busting total body workout regimen!

Strength Training

Strength training absolutely requires you to vary it up in order to work properly. Resistance training builds muscle by replacing the heavy weights that usually come with effective training. The reason why you need a whole set of dumbbells is because your body will adapt to the weight as it grows over time, meaning you need to keep buying new stuff to grow and that stuff will take up more and more space – not to mention more and more of your wallet.

Make sure to target the quads, glutes, biceps, triceps, lats, and every muscle in between. In no time, you’ll start to notice the weight becoming easier and then you can move up to a more challenging level.

Core Training

Strength training most commonly targets your arms and legs, but what about your core? Core exercises will target the muscles in your pelvis, stomach, and lower back––all of which are essential to complete, total-body fitness.

Strong core muscles are developed the same way that extremity muscles are–variety. Common types of core training include planks, sit-ups, various types of crunches, and even movement-based workouts like Yoga and Pilates. Gorilla Bow’s resistance training can work with these training methods to increase the intensity of your core workouts! When combined with a well-developed strength training routine and protein-packed diet, you will see positive results.

Stretching

In order to ensure that your strength training is leading to development, rather than injuring, of muscles, you need to stretch. Stretching exercises are so important that not stretching before a strength workout can lead to serious, potentially long-term injuries. Stretching also helps improve your flexibility and range of motion so you can get more out of every workout session. Staying limber also helps you avoid injury during everyday activities and playing your favorite sport.

The most effective way to stretch is to dedicate some time (at least 20min.) to it at least three times a week. Yoga can be a helpful tool, but you can also just do simple stretching workouts that target injury prone muscle groups like arms, shoulders, back, legs, groin, and hips. Use your Gorilla Bow to enhance your stretching exercises. Perform stretches that increase the flexibility of your hips and abdomen by removing the resistance bands and using the Bow as a brace to help you stretch more effectively.

Balance Work

Lastly, and perhaps the most neglected part of a good workout routine, is balance training. Especially as you get older, balance becomes a very important part of a well-rounded exercise routine. When working with weights or resistance bands, you need to maintain proper balance to avoid injury. If you aren’t smart about your workouts you may become injured, with all of your exercise plans become mere painful reminders of what could have/should have been.

There are endless creative ways to improve balance. From simple standing exercises woven into your daily routine to yoga, tai chi, or using fitness balls. But you don’t really need any particular equipment to practice balance. You can start with simple exercises like standing on one leg and balancing for as long as you can, then switching legs. Doing little balance practices every day will lead to an improved stability that helps in all facets of your exercise.

Give It a Go

Variety in physical exercise enhances both motivation and muscle growth. The only surefire way to build muscle is by varying up all parts of your workout so your muscles always feel challenged! Incorporate all of these elements and you’ll see a change in not only how you look but how you feel after every workout. Also, the Gorilla Bow is an excellent, multi-purpose, full-body, workout tool that can help your core, increase balance, and aid stretching. To help you achieve you fitness goals we have a large library of free video workouts, articles and even virtual training programs.

GET AT IT!

Photo by Frank Vessia on Unsplash