Step 4

Start Intensifying Your Exercise Slowly.

*Duration: Here's the thing...for now, don't worry about making your workouts any HARDER than they already are, just start increasing the time spent doing it. Start by adding just 5 minutes to your workout and keep doing that for 2 or 3 workouts and then add another 5 minutes to that. The goal here is to gradually work your way up to 40-45 minutes!

*Intensity: Pretty soon these longer workouts will start to feel too easy for you! (can you believe it!?!?) After your body gets used to going LONGER, a couple of times a week you should make your workouts a little HARDER. When you do your harder workouts...do them a little bit shorter than your normal long ones. For example, instead of your usual 40 minutes at your normal pace, do 20 minutes. Second... go harder in intervals, by that I mean for 3-5 minutes, go at a faster pace, then slow it back down to your normal pace and keep alternating that every 3-5 minutes.

* Hard/Easy: As you begin to add harder and longer workouts, you'll probably want to follow those with an easier workout. Let's say you do a long workout of 45 minutes or so...try going only 20 or 25 minutes the following day. Interval workout one day...go shorter and easier the next day. Always try to alternate between the two to avoid the risk of an overuse injury... or burnout.