Tuesday, February 26, 2013

HIIT Me!

Last September, I ran my first half marathon.  It was one of my finer moments mentally, but not physically, as you can see ;)

I trained for months, but I never lost any weight.  I trained my body to run long distances, but I wasn't training my body to change.  Overall, I was happy with my race time and my accomplishment, but I don't think it's something I want to do again.  I'm much more suited to weightlifting, so I'm going to focus more on that this year.

I still like running and I plan to do some 5K and 10K races this year.  So, I have been trying to walk more and stay active throughout the day in general.  And, I've incorporated two high-intensity interval training (HIIT) workouts into my routine each week.  My HIIT workouts last about 20 minutes plus a 5-minute warm-up and a 5-minute cool down.  During the 20 minutes I alternate short intense repetitions with short recovery periods.

I like this type of workout because I can tell it really helps improve my performance overall.  Plus, it increases your resting metabolic rate (RMR), which helps burn fat.  Here is a sample treadmill workout if you want to give it a try!  If you can't handle the speed or incline right away, just be patient and work up to it!












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