HIIT Workouts and Tracking

Time in the Gym 

I used to believe that in order to have an effective workout, you needed to go to the gym, work out one or two muscle groups at a time and then spend additional time with the cardio equipment. My husband despises cardio and seeing as that's who I typically frequented the gym with, we nearly never did our 20 minutes of cardiovascular workout... We'd spend a couple of hours lifting and doing abs so when you're going after work, you're ready to get home, eat dinner and go to bed. In addition, between the two of us, we were spending around $70 a month to go to the gym maybe more.

I am not saying that this type of exercise regimen won't get you or keep you in shape but I am saying that you don't HAVE to workout for hours at the gym in order to be in good shape! I'll tell you how in just a second...

I was finding it difficult to get to the gym on a regular basis with my work schedule and being tight on money, Brandon and I decided to cancel our gym memberships and workout at home- P90X style. As I have mentioned in a previous post, I have never made it through an entire 90 days with P90X- I inevitably would get sick and lose progress which would make me start from the beginning again. In addition, I did not eat healthy- Remember, I always thought, "If I workout, I can eat whatever!"

Brandon and I took pre-P90X pictures and for whatever reason, we never really got very far with it together so I preceded on my own on a different path. A friend of mine had referred me to Jillian Michaels and I started her 30 Day Shred DVD. (See my previous post on her DVD.) After I cycled through this twice, I purchased her Ripped in 30 DVD which I actually like a bit more- there's four workouts/levels (whereas the first one I bought is only 3). It felt amazing to get through this DVD and I could definitely tell I was making progress. About that time, I started seeing some pins on Pinterest about BodyRock.tv and looked into the program and HIIT workouts.

HIIT

Do you currently spend hours at the gym or wish that you had time to workout? Staying fit is an important part of life. Think about it like this: we fuel up our cars to get from place to place; we must fuel up our bodies to do the same. If we never ran the car, the fuel gets bad, the engine gets rusty, etc. If you're fueling up and never working out, essentially it's kinda the same. Muscles are like engines. If they aren't used, they deteriorate. If you don't want to spend hours in the gym, I've got fabulous news for you- YOU DON'T HAVE TO!
HIIT workouts are High Intensity Interval Training. It is exactly as it sounds. You workout in a higher intensity through a determined number of intervals. As Jillian Michaels says, if you want to workout in 30 minutes, there's no resting. Typically a HIIT workout might be intervals of 50 seconds of work and 10 seconds of rest. They contain cardio as well as strength components- so you're building muscle while toning- a perfect combination.
If you've never attempted a HIIT workout, don't be intimidated. Everyone starts somewhere and that's the other great thing about these type of workouts- you do as much as YOU can in that time frame. Let me give you an example of a HIIT workout using the 50/10 interval (50 seconds work, 10 seconds rest). We'll do three rounds of 4 different exercises. This workout would be 12 minutes long.

1.  Jumping Jacks
2.  Tricep Dips 
3. Squat Jumps
4. Push-Ups

Let's say you want to modify tricep dips, you can change your leg placement to make it as difficult as you want (legs further out, hard; legs elevated, advanced) and do as many as you can in that 50 seconds. If  you only get ten, great, because you'll see improvements if you continue these HIIT workouts! You can modify for any of the exercises making it as easy or difficult as you can manage. I like to repeat the same workouts every once in awhile using my old scores so I can track my progress which brings me to another important point...

Track Your Progress

As you embark on your journey of HIIT workouts, keep a notebook with your workouts. (I use a one-subject spiral.) I document the date of the workout, the interval, the exercises and the number of reps I accomplish in that workout in a chart format. It really is a cool feeling to go back and do an "old" workout and blow your scores out of the water! Try doing a HIIT workout routine for 2 weeks and then repeat the first one you did. I dare you.

Think. Work. Achieve. The Choice is Yours.