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equipment to complement your weight training.

The possibilities are near endless, but the main point is to continue working hard, but to not be wedded to any particular routine. Depending on your workout schedule, you can mentally spice things up by just changing the order of your exercises. For example, if you typically work Shoulders, Triceps and Biceps on your "Arms" day, change the order - granted, the principle is to move from largest and more complex muscle groups to smallest, but there is no harm in switching things around to keep yourself mentally fresh. The first thing that will happen is you will find that you can lift or curl more weight than ever during your Biceps routine as you will not be as exhausted as you have been previously; on the other side of things, when you reach your Shoulder routine, you can emphasize form and definition with lighter weights more than lifting for strength.

All gyms have various pieces of equipment that you may not have tried - work these into your repertoire. Likewise, depending on the season of the year - perhaps you have a spring or fall 10K race coming up - do a little less lifting and more aerobic work on treadmill, stair climbers, exercise bikes or elliptical trainers.

BUILD A SOLID FOUNDATION: The fundamental problem for most lifters, new and experienced, is poor form. Some go through their entire careers using atrocious form, generally to allow themselves to lift more weight without any gain. There is never any reason to sacrifice form for the tenuous substance of lifting more weight - the latter will decrease your gains and leave you susceptible to injury; using good form will move you in the right direction throughout.

IF POSSIBLE, FIND A HOME IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD: Finding the right place, as mentioned above, trumps all other concerns, but the reality of the situation is that if you have to travel too far to get to your gym from your own home or place of work, it will limit how often you get there even under the best intentions. If your workplace changes, but you are still in the vicinity, do not sacrifice a good gym for pure proximity - the best option then is to pick a slower day of the week, perhaps Wednesday and/or Thursday, followed by workouts on Saturday and Sunday to still get you more than enough time in the gym every week.

You can also supplement your time away from the gym with home fitness equipment and walks or runs around your neighborhood in between gym workouts.

ENJOY YOUR HOME AWAY FROM HOME: The common theme to all of these suggestions is that without the mental comfort and happiness of enjoying the place where you workout, you will stop going there sooner than not and, even if you do continue for a time, will not make the same strides that you would at a gym that is the right one for you. Do not overlook the mental side of things as, in the long run, this will be the reason you go to the gym or not - not the equipment, refreshments, other members or good parking spots.

Learn more about this author, Pete Smits.
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