7-23-10 workout

today was cardio/ab day!

I love it when it's cardio/ab day!

I have just started this HIIT  & I love it

(what is HIIT? You ask.....???)

High-intensity interval training (HIIT) or sprint interval training is an exercise strategy that is intended to improve performance with short training sessions. HIIT is a form of cardio which is beneficial to burning fat in a short and intense workout. Usual HIIT sessions may vary from 9–20 minutes. The original protocol set a 2:1 ratio for work to recovery periods. For example, a runner would alternate 15-20 seconds of hard sprinting with 10 seconds of jogging or walking.




I am doing my intervals at 1/30 or 2/1 (meaning I run like the devil for 30 seconds or 1 min depending on where I am on the HIIT. I do this for a total of 15 mins! Oh man. I am so winded by the time I finish that 15 mins it's like I've run for over an hour.
 
you may wonder why I don't just run/jog?
 
lets let Jerry tell it best........
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0L8U5tKTTWo
 
I choose not to run!
 
I have had my pelvis broken & running is hard on these flat feet of mine because of it, and so HIIT is just far better. I do LOVE to run.....when I run it makes me feel close to my Mom *she loved to run!* But it's just better for me & my body to not run. Plus, I'm trying to 'bulk up' muscle (think Linda Hamilton on Terminator) and when you are a runner you 'lean down' muscle so basically I'd have both ends struggling against eachother. I'm to the point I have to choose where I want to go physically & while I love what runners can do with their bodies, I'm not LOVING what my body would look like that way....to each his/her own......I don't down others for running (I have a friend in 'bama that runs like the wind & I read her blog all-the-time!) but it's just not for me. Everyone goes their own way in this, and this is just my way....
 
 
after my HIIT for 15 mins I did the following ab exercises
crunches
50/50/50/50 counts
pushups
30/30/20 (fail!)/30
mountain climbers
(planked & on floor)
30 each leg /30 each leg
 
*Mountain climbers-
 
You begin a mountain climber similar to a push-up. Your hands and arms are on the ground, about shoulder width apart. One leg is bent, tucked under your torso while the other leg remains straight and behind your body (a.k.a. runner's lunge position).
it really winds you!!!
 
 
(what I mean by counts is I count seconds while I'm doing the exercise, or have my cell phone timer set so that I can see how fast/slow the time is ticking by.
 
I have really strong planks & I'm doing different things to challenge my abs. I can do regular planks, walking planks, walking planks on one leg, etc. until the cows come home. I added the 1/2ball this week & I'm going to add more my next plank day. I have to challenge myself more.
 
you will see a good bit of my workout could have been done at home, FREE. If you start with only 1 or 100 you can build up to doing as many as you can count high! You can do this!!! You have a couch? Or chair? Or anything to put your legs on? You can do crunches! You have a floor? You have arms & legs? You can do mountain climbers!!
you can do it! I believe in you!