Intermediate Exerciser

Congratulations...You're ready to try some new workouts and learn new challenges

You've made a great start and are on your way to reaching your goals, but perhaps you need some ideas for new workouts and new ways to challenge yourself. As an intermediate exerciser, you may also find yourself hitting a plateau in your training. This is normal! Below you'll find resources for dealing with many of the issues intermediate exercisers face such as motivating yourself, fitting exercise into a busy schedule and busting through plateaus.

12 Weeks to Weight Loss

This free program may interest you if you're looking for a structured routine laid out for you. Though mainly for beginners, the program also offers workouts for more advanced exercisers. Give it a try!

Strength Training Workouts for Intermediate Exercisers

• Total Body Home Workout. This total body workout can be done at home or at the gym and covers all your major muscle groups.
• Upper Body Workout. If you're an intermediate exerciser, you're probably ready to branch out from the total body workout into a split routine. This upper body workout helps you concentrate more energy on your chest, back, shoulders and arms.
• Lower Body Blast. You can't do upper without working your lower body at some point too. This one involves lots of compound movements (squats, lunges, etc.) as well as more focused moves for your glutes and thighs.

Cardio Workouts for Intermediate Exercisers

• Burn 300 Calories in 30 Minutes. This article describes different workouts to try using various gym machines. You'll learn how to increase your intensity and really push yourself.
• Endurance Workout. This workout, which can be done on any machine (though it's shown on a treadmill) teaches you how to maintain a steady pace without having to stay at the same speed and incline for the duration of the workout (which can be a little boring).
• Cardio Speed & Endurance. This page offers 3 different workouts of varying lengths and intensities. The focus is on changing things up every few minutes with speed, incline and/or resistance to boost endurance and help you burn more calories.

Ab Workouts for Intermediate Exercisers

Yoga & Pilates for Abs. These moves, derived from both Yoga & Pilates, are a great way to work your abs and back in a different way. If you've been doing crunches for awhile, you'll enjoy doing something totally different for your core.

Abs & Back. These challenging exercises may be just what you need to take your body to the next level. Watch out! Some of these moves are really tough.

Articles and Resources Especially for Intermediate Exercisers

Understanding Weight Loss Plateaus . If you've been working out for a few months, you've probably seen changes in your body. Those changes (i.e., losing fat) can lead to plateaus as your body becomes more efficient at exercise. This article helps you figure out if you've reached your goal or if you can bust that plateau.

Get Out of Your Rut. I found that, when I fell into the 'intermediate exerciser' category, I was guilty of doing the same workout for months at a time. If this sounds like you, learn how to change your strength training programs to eliminate boredom.

Monitoring Your Intensity Right around this time in your exercise career, you're learning a lot about your body. One thing you're hearing about is your target heart rate zone. Now's the time to explore your exercise intensity to make sure you're getting everything you can out of your workout time.

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