Why Variety in Sports is Worthwhile

When the relationship with your sport has cooled down, you have two options: Either you fall in love with your old partner afresh – or you provide variety by cheating.

Sport is like love: there are good and bad phases. At the beginning we enjoy the intoxication and are surprised to find out how quickly we become fitter, stronger, faster and more enduring. And then – comes the great lull. Somehow nothing goes on while jogging, we can’t do the disc on the leg press either, and sometimes we can hardly get ourselves up because of boredom to exercise at all.

No need to give up, such a standstill doesn’t have to be bad, on the contrary: it makes us rethink our goals and procedures. Why is nothing more? Is it because of the wrong training plan that is not creating new stimuli? Have we overdone it and just need a break? Or are we possibly bored because the variety is missing – and the success?

Because it’s like this: We want to feel that the sport “does” something to us, that not only our heads are cleared, but maybe our trousers fit better again, we sped up the mountain without being completely out of breath. Success motivates, drives, and keeps us going. What if he suddenly doesn’t show up? Then we should change a few things to bring new momentum to the relationship with the workout.

Boredom lives in the comfort zone

To do this, however, we have to get out of the comfort zone. Studies show that in the first twelve weeks of endurance training, beginners improve their running performance by 35 to 40 percent. After that, the body’s ability to adapt drops to practically zero. “But he constantly needs new stimuli to change,” says sports scientist Dr. Dr. Michael Despeghel. “You should therefore vary your training plan every six to eight weeks.”

It will be more exhausting, of course, but also more exciting. Despeghel’s tip: Challenge your body by exercising more often, longer, and more intensely – in precisely this order. Then he has to accelerate and improve to cope with the new challenge.

For your training, this means: instead of two, in future you will run, swim or cycle three times a week. Next, gradually increase the training duration by a maximum of ten percent compared to the previous week; when doing strength training, you do one more set. In the third step, changes in pace, inclines and sprints spice up fitness and training and burn fat; when you do strength training, you take so much weight that you can only do eight to twelve reps.

Rest phases are just as important as the training itself. The rule of thumb is: untrained people take a break of 72 hours after intensive strength training, and those who have been trained 48 hours (36 or 18 hours for endurance sports).

If none of this helps, you may have to take more drastic measures: “Cheat,” advises sports scientist Dr. Volker Nagel from the University of Hamburg. “By regularly training a sport that complements the main sport, you improve performance and bring variety to your training.” The muscles are stressed differently, the coordination trained and the brain more efficient, because new neural connections are formed.

In addition, the new challenge can bring back the fun of the “old” sport. Cheating, like in love, has a very special charm: the tingling of the unknown. And that is known to be the greatest enemy of boredom.

Which second sport could seduce you

If you do endurance or team sports:

Inline skating is great for female runners and cyclists – the joint-gentle movement trains balance and strengthens butt and leg muscles. If you add poles, you can also train your upper body. Inline skating is also a good supplement for sports such as soccer, field hockey and basketball, because it trains the perception and coping with situations. For runners who suffer from muscle tension, yoga can be beneficial: tendons and ligaments are stretched, muscles are strengthened – a great protection against injury.

If you are on the ball at tennis or squash:

In setback games, skill and varied strokes count – switching to a different one such as squash, badminton or table tennis once a week ensures variety and increases the playing strength with the new, unfamiliar requirements. Game sports such as hockey or soccer, but also running, swimming and cycling, because they train endurance, are ideal additions.

When you do muscle training:

Whether you lift dumbbells in the weight room or go to a Pilates class: you will find plenty of variety in the fitness studio – for example in a kickboxing or martial arts class. In addition to strength endurance, reactivity, speed and concentration are trained and many calories are burned – a holistic, varied training that sets new stimuli through the interval load.

When you dance:

Rhythm and body control are particularly encouraged in dance sports, and in order to bring some variety to the training, all you really need to do is change discipline – instead of pair dancing, for example, aerobics or Zumba and vice versa. It’s fun, also trains endurance and trains the sense of rhythm, because people dance to different music and at a different tempo.

When you go to yoga:

Since yoga is so versatile, you can switch between the forms wonderfully – for example from a relaxing one like Yin yoga to one that promotes strength and conditioning like power yoga. Those who want more stamina can also run or cycle. For more strength, fitness courses such as barbell workouts or training on the machines are ideal.

Well combined: These sports also complement each other perfectly

• Jogging + Yoga: Run outside and let off steam, then come to rest during yoga, improve body awareness and posture. This also promotes a good running style.
• Inline skating + Pilates: Pilates strengthens the pelvic floor and the underlying muscle layers in the torso and back. This ensures stability and posture – good conditions for elegant gliding.
• Stepper + dance workout: The uniform exhaustion on the equipment is perfectly complemented by the creative choreographies in aerobics or ballet.
• Golf + Thera-Band: Golf is expensive – the affordable Thera-Band is a good addition. The exercises strengthen the torso and shoulders, among other things – in other words, the muscles that you need when playing golf.
• Snowboarding + wobble board: You can save the skill of snowboarding on the balance trainer even during the snow-free months. Not only balance and reaction are trained, but also foot and core muscles.
• Swimming + boules: Swimming is a great workout for the whole body, but a bit lonely. Combine it with boules, the French ball game. There is a lot of talk!
• Tennis + Stretching: Stretching keeps the muscles supple that you need for tennis. And if you do stretching as a workout, it replaces the tennis lesson if there is no opponent.
• Diving + Biking: Those who regularly do endurance sports make better progress with diving and then regenerate more quickly.
• Strength training + frisbee: The light-footed frisbee game is a great counterbalance to static strength training. It trains coordination and speed, which are neglected in strength training.
• Badminton + aqua jogging: Aqua-jogging trains the torso muscles that you need in badminton – but does not strain joints and Achilles tendon, which have to do quite a lot in badminton.