I teach an evening class weekly at a local gym. As I head into the fitness room, I always scan around to see who is working out on the cardio floor. Without fail, I will then see at least one of those people still on the treadmill when I leave about an hour later. I always just shake my head and wonder if they think the secret to fitness is hours logged.
It’s not!
Moms, we are busy. We don’t have time to be inefficient in anything we do. I mean, raise your hand if you find yourself cooking dinner while coaching a kid through homework while doing laundry while checking emails while…you get the point. We don’t have time to focus on just one thing for too long. There are simply too many things to do. Enter this new hype of High Intensity Interval Training. It’s truly the workout created for moms.
Get in. Get out. Get results.
HIIT is basically giving it your 100% all out energy…but in small spurts of time. You then follow those bursts of activity with a short recovery. And you repeat. And repeat. This type of training will get your heart rate up and keep it up causing a greater fat burn and heart health benefits. You will also force your body into an anaerobic zone. This is hard to do because it is uncomfortable (that feeling that you can’t breathe). But if you are only holding it for a short spurt, it becomes something your body can do and it’s awesome for your heart.
This is where you see endurance increase significantly the longer you make HIIT a part of your weekly routine. The intense exertion also leads to my favorite part of all: the after burn. This is because your body’s repair cycle is increased so it’s working for a good 24 hours after the workout.
HIIT is all the craze right now. Not just for the awesome physical benefits but because it’s so time efficient as well. If you have 20 minutes, you have time for HIIT. No gym, no problem. We’d love to hear if you are a fan of these workouts. Here is one to try, no equipment needed!
3 rounds. 45 seconds of work and 15 seconds of rest.
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- Pushups (on your knees or toes)
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- Squats (add a jump if advanced)
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- Run in place (either knees to hip height or speed run in place)
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- Tricep Dips (use a chair or a step)
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- Lunges
The goal is to exhaust your body. Become out of breath with these moves – then rest and repeat.
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