Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Hiit and Arnold Sports Festival


What is High Intensity Interval Training (or HIIT for short)? HIIT is a variant of exercising that is the quickest way to burn fat and gain muscle simultaneously. How does HIIT work? HIIT optimizes your workout time by utilizing a series of short, high-intensity intervals, followed up by longer, low-intensity intervals. The reason HIIT is so successful is that HIIT’s repeated intervals constantly keeps your body. Your body is never given a chance to “plateau” or get used to one setting, something that is common with other forms of cardio. Due to the nature of HIIT, it is typical to have workouts that are only 20 minutes or less and still burn the same amount of calories as an hour of regular exercising. The best part of HIIT is that it boosts your metabolism and will continue to burn hundreds of calories hours after you are done exercising!


One of the advantages to HIIT is that it can be applied to almost any form of cardio imaginable and can even be custom tailored to fit any exercising level, from beginners all the way to Olympic athletes! By simply creating your own combination of intervals or using common HIIT workouts such as the 30-90, 30-60, or the 30-30, you can easily integrate HIIT into your own cardio routine. When creating your own HIIT workout, use this simple guideline: typically, the low-intensity interval should be set at a pace where your heart rate is 40-50% of your maximum, and during high-intensity intervals, you should set your pace so that your heart rate is 80-90% of its maximum. The common HIIT workouts employ combinations of 30 seconds of high intensity, followed by either 90, 60, or 30 seconds of low-intensity intervals (depending on skill level). HIIT, although ideal for sprinting, can be adapted to work on treadmills and other gym equipment as well as other sports.
HIIT is a very effective way to get in shape quickly and stay in shape. The key to HIIT’s success is that it constantly keeps your body guessing. HIIT can be strenuous for the first time so make sure to go at your own pace and stay hydrated. HIIT is all about changing it up and fighting the ever looming “plateau effect”, and if used properly, HIIT is one of the best ways to reach your fitness goals.

 From ~ HIIT Training

I love Hiit workouts! They are intense and don't take much time. I usually do 2-3 Hiit workouts each week. I do mine on the treadmill and they last anywhere from 25-35 minutes. I run at 9 mph for 30 sec and recover at 4 mph for 1 min. I repeat those intervals for at least 20 minutes and it really wears me out. Everyone can fit in a 20 minute workout, so no excuses!



I'm really looking forward to Mar. 1- 4! It's nice to have a little getaway sometimes especially during the gloomy winter months. We are heading to Columbus, Ohio for the Arnold Sports Festival. There will be all kinds of sports and competitions going on. Tosca Reno and her Eat Clean team will also be there which is kinda cool. I think it would be fun to meet her.
Tosca Reno

 We are staying at Easton Town Center. It looks like a really neat place with lots of shops and restaurants to walk to from our hotel. It should be a fun few days!

Easton Town Center


I took a little Facebook break this past week. Sometimes Facebook can get really annoying. I'm sure you all know that. It's nice to step away from other people's negativity and clear it all out of your mind once in awhile. No point in wasting thoughts or energy on it. Thank goodness for the Hide button right lol ?! Overall I think Facebook is fun and a great way to keep up with friends. I'm thinking Pinterest is even more fun, though :-)





Have a GREAT day!

Thursday, February 9, 2012

My Fitness Pal

This week has flown by! I feel like it's been really busy. I'm feeling a little frazzled today. I hate when something gets me off schedule and the whole day feels thrown off. I have been transferring over my phone and the kids phones to our new iphone 4S. I am loving my new phone and can't wait to have time to sit down and look for some cool new Apps. I thought I'd share an App that is really good that Paige has used for a while now. It is My Fitness Pal




I have it on my phone, but don't use it that much. It's a good one though, and can be very helpful for anyone tracking calories and exercise as well as looking up nutritional info. Anyway, my day has not gone as I planned and I skipped my workout. Hate when that happens! Oh well, I will not take tomorrow off like I usually do to make up for it. I sure am in a Spring mood lately. Maybe it will come early this year! I'm ready for sundresses and flip flops.





Have a great Thursday!

Saturday, February 4, 2012

Super Bowl Cheat Day




I'm very excited for the Super Bowl tomorrow! Yes I enjoy watching the game and the commercials, but I'm excited to have a cheat meal!!! It's been 4 weeks since I have had a cheat meal and I can't wait! Instead of buying a bunch of yummy Super Bowl food to have at the house like we have always done, we are going out for Mexican food.

I LOVE Mexican food! I also plan to have a Margarita or two :-)

We also have some ice cream for during the game. Sounds so good right now!

Then on Monday I'll be right back to clean eating. So what delicious food are you having for the Super Bowl?