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. 

Muffin Top?

Muffin top? I don't even LIKE Muffins! 

You know where you stand on gravity when your clothes start fitting a little snug... but if you're like me, you refuse to acknowledge this fact and blame it on the dryer, water weight/bloating, etc. My turning point in my weight gain came one day when my husband (after hearing me complain about my fat once again and the fact that all my clothes were tight) said to me, "Why don't you just buy bigger pants?" That's what he said.... this is how I took it...

OH MY GOODNESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YOU DID NOT JUST SAY THAT!!!!!!!!!!!! **Now, I must say as a disclaimer: He's a man and didn't think anything of it though I am pretty sure he will think twice the next time he wants to comment on my clothes. 

As much as it hurt to admit it, I knew it was time to do something because I was NOT buying new pants. For one, I pay a lot of money for my jeans due to my giraffe legs and two, if I did buy bigger jeans... what's gonna happen when THOSE get too tight?! I was ending that cycle REAL quick. 

Research

I started doing my homework on weight loss and working out. I had tried P90X in the past and though I loved the results I was getting, I would ultimately get sick in the middle of the 90 days and lose my stamina resulting in starting over every time. (Side note here: I was NOT following the diet which I now believe would have helped maintain my progress.) I knew I needed a shorter term goal so I could feel a sense of accomplishment from finishing. 

A friend had once told me that Jillian Michaels had some great workouts on DVD and that they were about 30 minutes long. So, I purchased "30 Day Shred" by Jillian. What I love about her workouts is they are 30 minutes long, 30 day goal, and tri-leveled. You start at level 1 and progress to level 2 and finally to level 3. She shows you how to modify exercises if you can't complete them and continues to push you to try the advanced movements if you can. It's also set up in a 3-2-1 cycle.  You complete 3 minutes of strength, followed by 2 minutes of cardio and 1 minute of abs before moving to the next cycle (There are 3 cycles in every workout.). She also includes a warm-up and a cool-down which is very important in every workout. I was able to complete the program in 30 days and repeated it another 30 days doing the "more advanced" movements in most cases. I had a sense of accomplishment and was encouraged to keep working out to get even better results. 

Now, it is also important to note here that weight loss does not come without a diet of some sort in synergy with exercise. Let me repeat: YOU CANNOT WORK OFF A BAD DIET. <-- It took me a long time to come to this conclusion myself but the sooner you can come to peace with it, the sooner you can reach your weight loss goals. What I did initially is I downloaded a free app for my phone called LoseIt (also available via web: http://www.loseit.com) so I could track my calories. The app made it easy to know what I was eating and helped me realize some of the foods I was eating were high in calories. I began making better food choices (as far as calories go) and seeing the numbers of the scale come down. After awhile, I stopped tracking what I was eating on the app but continued to make better food choices because I was more educated now about what I was putting in my body. I encourage anyone to track their food for 30 days and I promise you will learn what foods you should avoid too. 

As I mentioned in a previous blog post, I read a book by Tosca Reno called "The Eat-Clean Diet" in June. This book helped me understand that eating clean isn't a diet.... it's a life style change. Our brains are wired in such a way that if we can't understand the rationale behind something, we don't place as much importance on that particular issue. After I read this book, I understand the principles of eating clean and have placed more importance in making sure I choose foods that are good for my body. I recommend reading this or another book about eating clean foods so you too can help your brain place higher importance on your quality of life because when you eat cleaner foods, it's not just weight you'll lose and here's an example: My mom is now over 60 and was diagnosed with fibromyalgia a couple of years ago. She refused to live with the diagnosis and started researching online. She discovered that many people had reduced or eliminated their symptoms by cutting our artificial sweeteners and products from their diet so she got rid of the Sweet N Lo and as much as possible from all other foods and she has been symptom free since. <-- WOW. If that isn't evidence enough! Read the book, it's enlightening! 

Coupled with eating clean and exercise, make sure you drink lots of water, LOTS. If you aren't drinking at least 8 glasses a day, you probably aren't drinking enough water. Think about it like Tosca: if you put food waste into your garbage disposal, you have to have water to flush it out otherwise, it gets nice and nasty in the disposal. The same is true for your body. What you eat has to be flushed out. If you aren't drinking enough water, chances are you are dehydrated. Here are some signs that I have experienced: fatigue, headache, constipation, back pain, weight gain, cellulite, blurred vision... OMG, just by making sure you drink enough water, you can reduce or eliminate those symptoms! Grab a glass and drink it now! 

If you can, check out my friend, Alicia's blog on eating clean as well. She's got some great material that's research-based as well (That's important, y'all!). Most recently, read about coconut oil and it's benefits in your diet. 

Think. Work. Achieve. The choice is yours.