Well, the weather around these parts has not been particularly conducive to outside training. Therefore the great majority of us are confined to training in the great indoors!
This is an unfortunate reality of living in Calgary....or most of Canada for that matter. There is going to be a 4-5 month chunk of the year where you are largely confined to indoor training. Indoor training is not bad per se, it's just restrictive and lends itself very well to repetition and monotony.
So how do you break out of the indoor training blues?
1). Shake it up- Do circuits, see how many front squats you can do in 2-minutes, run intervals, try a class, do something different!
2). Compete against yourself- Set a challenge for yourself, try to beat your continuous push-up record, try to run a set distance in less time, do some maximal lifts, see how many days you can do continuously.
3). Go outside- I know it is much harder to motivate yourself to go outside and do something. However, winter activities can be some of the best all around fitness activities. Shinny is a positively brutal but super fun outdoor workout while cross country skiing and snowshoeing are excellent for developing high levels of aerobic endurance.
The key with fitness is to try to continuously challenge yourself in different ways. Routine is a killer so it is important to realize that variation and change are esssential for both mind and body.
However, it is very difficult to arrive at the gym and instantaneously think of "something different". Try writing down a few ideas for the week, this allows you to plot a course and gives you some time to plan. It certainly takes more effort to plan different activities but you will certainly reap the rewards and feel energized and enthusiastic about fitness.
Till next time,
M
That's right. 
