You signed up for the 60 Day Challenge (or decided on your own personal challenge) and created your plan of attack (workout plan). You really like Healthy Hormones and know your body responds best to it so that’s your main menu choice for workouts. Things are going fairly well and after just a few weeks you can tell things are fitting a little bit looser! Yeah!

But then…..you read of how Steppin’ Susie did Step It to the Max and lost a size already! In TWO WEEKS!

So, you think….”Maybe I should have a little of that, too.” So you add Step It to the Max in 2 days per week to “get a little more cardio in”.

Next day you read how Die-Hard Dana lost 5 inches in one week off her abs alone doing Brain-Body Fitness Floor four times each week.

You really do need to work on those abs….so you decide to add in Brain-Body Fitness Floor. But you’re already doing Step It to the Death—er–Max twice a week, so you decide to do BBFF (as we like to shorten it) twice each week and Healthy Hormones once each week.

Another week goes by and you haven’t lost 5 inches off your abs—in fact, things are getting a little tighter for some reason. And your right knee is hurting. You go to the support page on Facebook and find that Agile Annette has lost an inch off each arm doing Tempo Arms. Arms are you other main area you want to see shape up. You decide to stop doing Step It to the Max and Healthy Hormones and just alternate between Tempo Arms and Brain-Body Fitness Floor.

After another week you are getting so frustrated!  The Challenge is almost over and things are going the opposite way in spite of concentrated effort. You’re tired and tired of the Challenge already! Why are things going wrong?

If you have ever experienced anything like this, I call it the Distraction Syndrome.

“I’ll have some of what she’s having!”

Sounds like what we’d hear at Starbucks, our favorite restaurant or ice cream shoppe, right?!

You see something delectable on someone else’s plate or maybe a friend wearing a cute outfit and want something similar. Nothing wrong with that!

But when it comes to our workouts, it can create a distraction—one that does NOT get you to where you want to go!

It’s fun to see what others are doing and you certainly can change up your workout routine during the 60 Day Challenge or during your own personal challenge. But when you start jumping from workout to workout to workout, hoping maybe this one will shrink your tummy or tighten and tone your arms, you will do yourself a disservice.

Stick with 1-2 workouts to start with. Spending time with Instructionals, if those particular workouts have them, is the best way to improve form and muscle activation. If you like variety, then by all means rotate through workouts but don’t rotate through all 20 workouts you own in one month!

I strongly recommend sticking with 2-4 workouts throughout a month or even 60 Day Challenge. The concentrated effort you are already spending to focus on fitness is enhanced by doing the same movements but with focus on form. If you are constantly switching it up, you might be less bored, but you also might not see the results you are working so hard to see!

A few options if you like variety:

• Stick with one or two workouts for 2 weeks, then switch out ONE of the workouts for a different one
• After another few weeks, you can switch out the other workout for another, if you wish
• Be careful that you don’t add too much in (i.e. floorwork or stepping in addition to another workout, more “target moves”), especially when you are focusing effort on a challenge (official or unofficial)

If you are someone who likes the same workout or two, there’s nothing wrong with that! But to keep form focus fresh (can you tell I love alliteration?!) revisit the Instructional(s) of your chosen workout(s) every 6-8 weeks.

When you make your workout plan, stick to it! At least give it a few weeks before you tweak it. Exception would be if you can tell it’s too much and you need to change things so you don’t overtrain—but even then, try fewer reps, going every other day, etc vs totally changing your workout plan.

Consistency is easier when you have a plan and stick to it—and it will yield the results you want far better because you can stay focused and motivated.

And focus + intention + motivation = the best plan for you!

(Any resemblances to actual Agile Annettes, Die-Hard Danas and Steppin’ Susies are purely coincidental. To my knowledge no one has lost 5 inches off her abs in a week, unless she just had a baby! 🙂 )

Would you like a reminder to stick with what’s working?

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