Interval Training: A Step in the Right Training Direction

PHOTO CREDIT TO STEVE.GARNER.32 FROM FLICKR

While at the gym the other day, I ended up talking to a man about a little thing called interval training. He said it was one of the best workouts he had ever done before, and has helped him lose the annoying weight that he had been attempting to lose for quite some time.

Interval training is a cardio workout that is based mostly on your heart rate. It is a combination of sporadic bursts of faster paced cardio for an allotted amount of time, followed by a recovery period to slow your heart rate back down. Your target heart rate will depend upon your age and the intensity of the workout you want to achieve.

There are many benefits to interval training especially with high intensity. These include the fact that the workout doesn’t have to take a big chunk of time. Most high intensity workouts normally last around 15 minutes, but leave you feeling as though you ran a marathon.

Some of the other benefits that people have discovered from participating in this workout are decreased apetite, reduction of stress, higher endurance, increased metabolism, better toning, and even has been proven to show signs of fighting osteoporosis.

Overall, it something I have yet to dive completely into but am willing to try. Whether you are at the gym or outside getting your daily run in, don’t rule out the fact interval training might be the step you need to take to get to where you want to be.

For a great guide to interval training and how to get started CLICK HERE!

Get Up, Get Fit, Get Motivated!

Working and being motivated all in the same moment!

There are many ways people find motivation to get themselves to reach the goals they want to reach, but what ways last? What ways won’t leave you bored and over it? During this post we are going to discuss different ideas from multiple fitness websites and such to find what works best for you!

First off, there is no better motivation than some words of wisdom at the very beginning of your morning. Whether you take a white board marker or buy a million post-its, all you have to do is write some words to get you off to the right start first thing in the morning. If you are too lazy to get your pen and paper out and jot down some words, you can always get help from your handy dandy smart phone! There are multiple apps that are out there that will send you quotes of the day, and alert you each and every day to light that fire under your unmotivated tush.

The next motivational tip is to always keep a gym bag in your car ready for you to workout. We all have busy and hectic lives with ever-changing schedules, so opportunities to work out can come up at any time. Therefore you must be ready for your chance to get your workout on! Keeping running shoes, a towel, water bottles, sweats and a tee shirt are the necessities of every car trunk.

What better motivates you than some new tunes on the iPod calling your name?! Always take some time on the weekends to update your iPod to keep it fresh and fun, so that when you do go to the gym you aren’t slowed down by sappy love songs or Pandora commercials that last for what seems like centuries.

When it comes to what to eat for the day and even the week make sure to keep in mind the amount of calories you are consuming, and how that will affect reaching your goals. A great way that I have found to do this is the wonderful adventures of My Fitness Pal app for the iPhone (which is also available online for those who do not have a smart phone). The app counts your calories for you and keeps it like a diary, and only allows you a certain amount of calories per day depending on your weight loss goals as well as the amount of exercise you part take in. This is a great way to keep you conscious of each item you eat, and what you need to be eating less of.

Lastly, it never hurt to have a work out buddy. Working out with a friend is a great idea for those who have a hard time motivating themselves. Having a friend call you at 7 a.m. to tell you that your butt is getting bigger by the second, and the treadmill has your name on it never hurt anyone (except maybe your feelings for just a minute).

So write down those motivational quotes, pack your bag, turn up that music, count those annoying calories, and grab a bud to get to where you want to be. Together my friends we will get skinny!

MOTIVATIONAL QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson