That's Fit

There's nothing worse than being religious with your exercise program and treating your diet like gospel, only to have your body look and feel more like an inelegant Las Vegas wedding chapel than the beautiful temple it should be.

You work hard for results, be them visible to the naked eye or medical instruments, so you deserve to get them. You deserve to turn heads at the beach, you deserve to have your doctor compliment you on your lower cholesterol level, and you deserve to be able to finish a 5K run. But what if, after all your dedicated effort, you still haven't made any noticeable improvements in these areas for the last several months? What if you look and feel the exact same as you did back in, say, March? Unless you're happy with where you are in terms of your health and fitness (which of course is perfectly OK if you are), you're probably growing more and more frustrated with each passing, unchanging day. You may even be considering giving up for good; throwing in the towel, grabbing a spoon and slipping into a cookie-dough coma. Do not -- I repeat -- do not give into this temptation without at least first trying a little change to your now routine routine.

If you're results haven't changed in several months, it's probably because you haven't done much to change them. Although your current workout may have produced results in the past, your body is well-adjusted to that specific training protocol. Therefore, you have to change things up, or else you'll remain stagnant and stuck on that fitness plateau forever. Bear in mind, however, that change doesn't have to be dramatic (though it can be if you so choose). It can be as simple as an increase or decrease in the number of reps you perform; alternating your grips or stances; switching to a more cardio or resistance training-focused workout; using dumbbells instead of barbells; and reducing or extending rest periods in between sets. These are not major overhauls, but they are enough to get your body guessing again and resume construction on that beautiful temple of yours.