How do you improve what you're "conditioned" to do, if you don't push yourself beyond what you're "conditioned" to do?

I'm not trying to be flip here, but merely pointing out the logical fallacy in this approach. If you only do what you're used to doing, the body will eventually get more efficient at doing it. So in effect, if you keep doing exactly the same thing, at the same level of intensity, you will in essence regress, not progress.

That doesn't mean you shouldn't be careful about how much to push yourself. For example, you don't just jump from a walking routine right into HIIT. You start with some lesser intensity interval training, for example. Similarly, with weight training, you just add a little weight at a time. The idea is to change up your routine just enough so that you are pushing yourself.

And by the way, that doesn't mean pushing yourself ALL the time. You have to rest, too.

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