It is important when pursuing your fitness goals to keep the workouts fresh and full of variety. Your workouts need to be challenging and progressive, so you can continually see results. Utilizing the many different variables that are involved in designing a workout program can maximize your potential and increase the benefits of exercise. These variables consist of planes of motion, range of motion, types of resistance, tempo, frequency, and amount of joint involvement. These variables can be manipulated to progress your fitness results and keep your body guessing.

Here are some example exercises that involve many of the variables that are used in program design:

1. Transverse Lunge, Reach, Row to Overhead Press – Stand with weight in one hand. With the opposite leg, step to the side 90 degrees from how you were standing. Reach down with the weight as far as you can towards the opposite foot. While kneeling down, row the weight to your side. Begin to stand back up and bring the weight over your head. Repeat for ten to twenty reps. Switch sides.

2. Overhead Tricep Extensions with Split Stance Squats – Stand in a split stance while holding weight in both hands. Raise your arms and keep your elbows near your head. Bend at the knees while keeping your spine upright. As you go down, lower your arms while keeping your elbows near your head. As you rise up, extend your arms back up. Repeat for ten to fifteen repetitions. Switch legs and repeat.

3. Squat, Row – Use either a stretch cord or cable machine. Grab the handles with your arms out in front. Have your legs shoulder width apart. Squat down as if you are trying to sit. Be sure to put the pressure in your heels and not in your toes. This will help keep you in the correct form. As you are squatting, pull your elbows in past your sides. You should feel your shoulder blades squeezing together as you pull the resistance. As you stand back up, release the tension back to the starting position in your arms repeat for ten to twenty repetitions.