Be honest -- is your workout truly challenging you? While consistency is key to building healthy habits, fitness expert Jessica Matthews says we can only repeat the same strength training workout for so long before it begins to lose its effectiveness.
"If your workout isn't as challenging as it used it be, it could be that your body is starting to get a little bit bored with what you're doing, and doing it over and over again, even if mentally you are not," Matthews says.
Take the basic bicep curl, for example. "If you're completing those repetitions and by the last one you feel like you could do 10 more -- and you're not out of breath and your heart rate's barely increasing -- that's your cue to start increasing the number of repetitions that you're doing," she says.
In the above video, Matthews outlines the three steps to getting better results when your body is bored of your workout routine.
1: Increase Your Repetitions
"So if I'm doing 12 repetitions, I'm going to work my way up to doing 15," she says.
2: Increase Resistance
The maximum number of repetitions you want to work up to is 15, Matthews says. Once that becomes too easy, it's time to add weight. "So if I've been using 5 pound dumbbells, for example, I'll want to bump up and use 8 pound dumbbells."
3: Scale Back Repetitions
When you add more resistance, you should decrease the number of repetitions, Matthews says. Drop back down to 12 repetitions and slowly work your way back up to 15.
"That double progressive protocol is how you can structure your strength training workouts and continue to progress them so that you keep seeing great results," she says.
More: A workout routine that can actually curb hunger.
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