Shake Up Your Morning Run

There’s nothing better in the morning when the sun is just peeking over the buildings to get in a run. If you’ve been doing this for a while, though, it might start to feel a bit boring. It’s time to shake things up!

Try something different this morning. The air is starting to get crisp and fall is on its way. Get outside and enjoy the sun while you still can. Soak up some vitamin D and do your body good with this extra challenge in your morning run.

Add Intervals

It’s good to idea to start off light and airy on your feet but once you get your rhythm down, do you ever push yourself to get a bit of extra speed in? You can really increase your calorie burn and feel those endorphins flowing when you add in some intervals of extra effort.

The best way to do this is to use an interval time and dedicate a set number of seconds to use an exertion of 85% of your maximum capacity. This can be anything from 10 seconds to 30 seconds, depending on your fitness level. You can use double the amount of time to catch up by walking and allowing your heart rate to go back down before you pick up your rhythm again.

If you aren’t the sprinting kind, you can still add extra speed intervals, just make them a bit longer. Instead of making a 10-second sprint your goal, why not just increase your speed by 25% for five minutes? This will still push you beyond your normal run and improve your fitness level and calorie burn.

Use the Terrain

Most cities have some cool geographical features that you can use to make your run more interesting. Look for hills, stairs, and park paths that will challenge your body.

Anytime you run on an incline you are targeting your glutes and thighs, as well as increasing the cardiovascular benefits of your run. This will give you a nice round booty, reduce cellulite, and slim your waist! Sounds like a winner to me!

When you look around, try to find places that you can use for a bit of extra challenge and breaking up the routine of your run. For example, jump over rocks, climbing over fences, leaping over streams, all challenge your balance, work your muscles, and engage your mind.

Include Bodyweight Movements

Breaking up your run with some bodyweight movements can help you feel the burn even more and turn a monotonous run into a fun workout. Try to plan for bodyweight movements in places with less traffic so that you aren’t in anyone’s way and include things like the Bulgarian split squat (above), incline push-ups, regular squats, walking lunges, and tricep dips.

You can turn your run into a mix of toning and shedding without bringing along dumbbells by using your own body weight as resistance. This will also help your body redirect its energy consumption to your fat stores instead of your muscles by engaging your muscles into your run.

Make it Plyometric

Anytime you want to increase the difficulty of your workout routine and make it fun, add some plyometric moves. You’ll feel your heart pumping out of your chest, your muscles burning, and your brain in total focus.

Plyometric moves like box jumps (above), puddle jumps, clapping pushups, or anything else that involves quick powerful movements can be incorporated into your run. It is preferable to make just one plyometric interval because these really tax the body and you don’t want to overexert yourself to the point of not finishing your run.

Most important of all, enjoy your run, have fun, and be consistent!