Month: February 2016

Morning Workout Why?


Some mornings that 6am alarm going of makes me question why am I even doing this.

But if I get up and do 20-30 minutes of Hiit cardio first thing on a morning I feel totally awake and ready to take on the day.

They say cardio on a morning is the best time to burn the most fat.

What is Hiit?

“HIIT, or high-intensity interval training, is a training technique in which you give all-out, one hundred percent effort through quick, intense bursts of exercise, followed by short, sometimes active, recovery periods. This type of training gets and keeps your heart rate up and burns more fat in less time.“

 

Why Hiit?

Fat Burning

Burn more Fat & Calories on the 24 hours after a Hiit workout than you do after a steady paced run.

10 minute of fat blasting Hiit burns more than half an hour on the treadmill.

Body Repair

Not only do you burn more fat but the exertion kicks your body into repair mode quicker.

Build a Healthier Heart

After 8 weeks of Hiit workouts you will be able to cycle nearly half as long as before.

Increase Metabolism

Stimulates production of natural growth hormone.

Lose Weight not muscle

Doing Hiit training helps you lose weight but not the muscle whereas Steady state cardio tends to encourage muscle loss.

Ideal for people with Busy Schedules

You can squeeze in a quick 20-30 minute session of hiit before work or during a lunch break. And its a quick way of getting into shape for a special event.

 

No Equipment necessary

Challenging

Can do it anywhere

Examples

  • Mountain climbers
  • Treadmill 30 seconds fast paced 20 second rest
  • Tabitha training
  • Bicycle Training
  • Box Jumps

 

 

 

Compound exercises

  Exercises can either be compound or isolated.

Compound exercises involve more than one muscle group

Isolation exercises isolate a muscle group by concentrating on that one group of muscles.
Compound exercises tend to stimulate all major muscles in the body which if you are wanting to see change in a shorter time period performing these in your gym session is going to make you see a bigger change quicker.

Exercise examples:

  • Squats
  • Lunges
  • Bench press
  • Lateral pull downs
  • One arm dumbbell rows
  • Shoulder press
  • Abdominal bicycle

Sets of 8-12 reps is around the best amount providing you have the correct form when performing these moves. Start of at light weight and as you become more confident with these moves is when you can start using heavier weights.

I find if I have a heavy day during the week and a light day during the week I am still seeing similar benefits. Make sure you are giving your body enough rest between heavy weight days. Otherwise you will counter act what you are trying to do. 

Girlies squat squat squat for that growth in your booty and for that overall strength that is sort after ATM. 

Early mornings

  
The feeling for me is waking up early and heading to the gym. Even more so if it’s empty! It gets me refreshed and ready for the day. I find I’m so much more productive during the day at work and I feel like I work harder as I’m under more pressure due to time. 

They do say the morning is the best time to do cardio as your body has rested during the night and you are getting your body burning fat right from the get go. I like to do 15-30 mins Hiit cardio on a morning. 

This morning I did hit the weights hard. However I find training weights on a morning I haven’t got as much energy to do heavy as I haven’t had the carbs or protein I have when I train on a night. Therefore I tend to go for lighter weights and more reps on a morning. It’s important if you are training weights on a morning to have a shake or something to eat before hand you don’t want to be passing out especially if it’s an empty gym.
Train hard, push further see results! Nevergivein x

Pull ups

   
It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to do a pull up, and it’s a goal of mine! 

I’ve got to leave the excuse of I’m too heavy at the gym door and just practice! 

I’ve been advised the pull up assist machine isn’t the best thing to be practicing on! It’s great for getting the right movement but not for getting you to doing it un assisted so hear are a few things that will help.

Grab a partner! – a gym buddy who will be there to help you is a great start.

Negatives – from the up position of a pull up slowly lower yourself down the the stretched out position.

Cables- Using the cables lie on your back and using the long bar lowered to the floor, With the weight on heavy  pull yourself from arms stretched position towards the bar.

Getting used to hanging – use a step if need be to reach up (if your short like me) and hang from the bar for as long as possible do this 3-4 times get used to holding your own body weight. Practice this every couple of days (upper body days) Then as you strengthen you should be to attempt your pull up. 

Gel nails 

  
As a gym girl. I’m still a big girly girl. And as i am sweating more, I find it more and more important to look after my appearance, skin and hair. So I got given a gel nail kit for Xmas and it’s honestly one of the best presents I have received. I get to experiment with nail designs without paying a fortune at a good Salon or going to one of the nail bars where they use those horrible electric files that ruin your nails! 

Loving the pale pink and I’m loving the glittery pink ATM so naturally I’ve gone for both. I also wanted to try out the nail stickers I got with some polish I bought. And they were so simple to use! Bottom coat, soak the design in Water, dry, top coat dry then trim the edges of the paper off and there you have it!  I Need a bit of practice at applying them but I love the idea means you can get cute designs on your nails without having to get all creative with tiny little brushes. 

Friday fun 

  So my boyfriend and I celebrate our 16months together this time and I seem to be getting better with gifts I’m super excited for him to receive what I’ve got him. Christmas he received a star was voucher to see the new film at the cinema along with a light saber and some cool key rings etc. Oh and he got a food prep bag as he’s also a bit of a fitness fanatic. My work colleague recommened this company and its a mystery to me what exactly comes in the gift which is exciting but it’s super geeky and I know Josh will 100% love how cool it is! Will update you all once he has received it and give you more details on where you can get one from too.

Cardio! Stairmaster

  
  So my work out at the moment has upped my cardio and I’ve found love for types of cardio I hated before! I think my love has grown because I am seeing a change in my body now.  The stair master is one of my favourite machines in the gym you can be on it for 5minutes and have broken out in a sweat. Try having it on a slow speed and doing a squat on the top step before stepping back up again. Or doing kick backs! Creates and absolute burn. The best bit about the stair master is a 30 minute session on it burns an average of 223 calories. 

Working out

  
today’s work out consists of 30 minutes on the stair master and a heavy session. 4 sets of
10 wide leg squats- on the smith machine
10 normal squats – on the smith machine
10 flat bench chest press
15 flat bench flies
20 sit ups with added weight
and 60second plank
looking forward to feeling the burn.
currently got a routine that consists on more cardio than weights but still enough weights to not lose any muscle that I’ve built over the last 2 years of hitting gym.