HIIT Workout - Outside Addition :-)

Workout Of The Day - 

So yesterday I posted on Instagram that I would be posting an outside workout. I want to do this for a couple of reasons.

 1. Sometimes people do not have access to the gym and want things that they can do at home. I have bought a pair of weights that were inexpensive to use at home.

 2. The weather is so beautiful it sucks to be stuck inside a stuffy…smelly...dim gym. 

 3. Vitamin D is AMAZING for you to get regularly! Being outside in the sun has been shown to increase neurotransmitter release, therefore making the correlation in your brain that exercise is fun! :-) 

So yesterday I went to the gym for a quick arm sesh and then decided to go outside for some sun and cardio! :-) So here is a little workout. (I used bleachers but they are not a necessity) 

Circuit 1 - 

Up and down the stairs (or high knees) for 1 min 

Lunges up bleachers (or lunges on track) for 1 min 

Step up and kickback on bench or elevate surface – 10 each side 

Break for 1-2 minutes (If you have a heart rate monitor, wait until your heart rate has returned to a normal level. If you don’t use your breathing as a monitoring tool. You should be able to breathe “normally” with only slight impairment.) 

Circuit 2 - 

Toe taps on stairs (or fast feet) for 1 min 

      Moving feet one at a time forwards and backwards as fast as you can go 

Up and down the stairs (or high knees) 1 min 

Sprint one length of bleacher x 4 (or spring for 15 secs x4) 

Circuit 3 - 

Run one lap 

Sprint for 35-45 secs 

Walk one lap

This little workout took me about 20 minutes. Remember to rest and get your heart rate back to normal. This is going to help later on with your hormone level, which at night will help with muscle repair. Hope you like this workout. I am going to be posting more I promise!! Life has been so crazy, but I am getting back to my roots ;-)

The Dreaded "C" Word...Cardio

Let’s talk about the dreaded cardio…dun dun dunnnn. I have said it many times and I will say it many more, I am sure, I AM NOT A CARDIO BUNNY. If I could get away with doing no cardio at all that would be the life! Unfortunately I understand the benefits of cardio and why it is needed in a well rounded fitness routine. Some people will tell you that you don’t need to cardio that strength training is all you need. I don’t believe in “cutting” anything out of my fitness routine. This goes for food, cardio, different workouts, etc.

This week my coach increased my cardio to an hour 6 times a week in order to continue to cut body fat. Once your body gets to a point it starts to retain water, fat, etc. in order to stay “healthy”. I am trying to cut fat in order to get ready for a show which means ill have to get down to 12-14% body fat, which is not an everyday body fat percentage. With that being said I had to increase cardio in order to help my body along with this process.

In an effort to make cardio more fun and interesting I have started to do HIIT (high intensity interval training) workouts 2-4 times a week. Personally interval training makes cardio more fun and it goes by faster. So why is cardio important?

1. Cardio helps burn calories which will aid in fat loss.

2. Cardio helps build the most important muscle in your body, your heart.

3. Increase in cardio exercise releases endorphins (serotonin, dopamine, etc.) which improve your mood.

4. Cardio decrease stress, mentally and physically.

5. Cardio increases your endurance which will help in strength training.

6. Cardio will help you sleep better; getting a full night sleep will allow your body to repair after intense strength training sessions.

Sounds great doesn’t it?! Well all these things don’t mean cardio still doesn’t suck! I have recent done research on HIIT workouts and sprints. Take some time and look at pictures of sprinters, they are built! HIIT has become my new form of go to cardio so I will share some of the workouts that I do.

-HIIT can be done in many different ways. The way that I like to do it is by setting up an exercise for each muscle group and doing that exercise for 30 seconds and then a rest period. Some people do exercises that will increase heart rate but not use weighted exercises. This is totally up to you. Look up some HIIT example workouts, try a few and see which ones you like best.

HIIT Workout (Full body workout)

Shoulders

-Squat Press

-Bicycle Crunches

-Jumping Jacks

(each exercise 30 secs back to back, 1 min rest)

Chest

-Steering wheels with plate

-Reverse crunches on BOSU or bench

-High Knees

(each exercise 30 secs back to back, 1 min rest)

Back

-Bent Over Row with Barbell

-Plank

-Mountain Climbers

(each exercise 30 secs back to back, 1 min rest)

Hamstrings

-Deadlifts

-Situps

-Side to Side on BOSU ball

(each exercise 30 secs back to back, 1 min rest)

Quads

-Squat with Barbell

-Glute Bridges

-Box Jumps

(each exercise 30 secs back to back, 1 min rest)

Calves

-Calf Raise with Barbell

-Oblique Plank Twists

-Jump Squats

(each exercise 30 secs back to back, 1 min rest)

Biceps

-Bicep curls

-Leg Lifts

-Jumping Jacks

(each exercise 30 secs back to back, 1 min rest)

Triceps

-Triceps Extension

-Russian Twists

-Box Taps

(each exercise 30 secs back to back, 1 min rest)

My workout partner and I did this last week and it was killer!! Takes about an hour but it flies!

-I put up a treadmill sprint workout in my leg day post so be sure to check that out if you want to give sprints a try. I’ll be putting up more cardio workouts as I go into this week as well in order to help you guys along!

(Me after my hour cardio day yesterday)