HIIT Treadmill Workout

Hills & Sprints

I'm always changing up my cardio to keep it from getting too boring. Some days I do HIIT on the machines or track or outside, steady state cardio, or bodyweight cardio.  There are definitely many days where it's the last thing I feel like doing, so I'll come up with HIIT workouts that make the time fly by.  Below is one that I do on the treadmill.  The first half is hills and the second half is sprints.  For the hill intervals I usually keep my speed at about 4.5 for the really steep hills (10 and 12) and bump my speed up to 5.5 for the rest.  You can do this workout and adjust it to your fitness level, so you'll see there are ranges for speed and incline.

Also, I use the first interval as a warm up starting with a fast walk into a jog.

Minute:               Speed:               Incline:

0:00-5:00            4-5.5                  3.5

5:00-7:00            4-5.5                  8-10

7:00-8:00            4-5.5                  5-6

8:00-10:00          4-5.5                  10

10:00-11:00        4-5.5                  6-7

11:00-13:00        4-5.5                  12

13:00-25:00 Repeat the following intervals

30 seconds fast walk

30 seconds run

1:00 seconds sprint        

Label Reading Tips

My Facebook post yesterday inspired me to write a blog with a few tips on how to read labels.  I’m a bit of a label nazi.  I ALWAYS read labels on foods that I haven’t purchased before.  I have my weekly grocery list of foods that I already know the ingredients, but if there is ever a sale on an item that is a different brand than the one I buy, the first thing I’ll do is compare the ingredients and labels.  Yesterday I had posted a picture of 2 different “natural” peanut butters at the grocery store to show an example of why it is important to read your labels.  One of the peanut butter’s had sugar and other things in the ingredient list while the other was 100% natural and just contained peanuts.  The point of the post was to show people that it’s so important to read your labels and ingredients.  Just because a food is claiming to be healthy or natural, certainly doesn’t mean it is.  Here is my list of quick tips when it comes to reading labels.

1.  Don’t always believe the package.  There are so many food items that will say “healthy”, “low fat”, “fat free”, “no trans fat” etc.  These marketing tactics are used to draw your attention to purchase the item.  A lot of times when something is “low fat” or “fat free” such as dressings, they will contain more sugar.

2. Know your fats.  As listed above, one label you might come across is “no trans fat”.  But companies do not have to report the amount of trans fat on a food label if it doesn’t reach a certain amount.  So, how can you tell if your food contains trans fats?  The ingredients!  If your ingredients list has hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils, that’s trans fat! Also, limit saturated fats. 

3. Limit foods with added sugar.  Added sugar is in many foods you probably don’t think about.  Salad dressings, pre-made soups, cereals, sauces, seasonings etc.  If you use a lot of these items, try looking for items that contain less grams of sugar per serving.  (We all know we use more than 1 serving, so do your math).  Also, be aware of hidden names for sugars.  An ingredient list might not have sugar, but there are many names for it.   A few examples: dextrose, fructose, glucose, sucrose, maltose, sorbitol, xylitol, high fructose corn syrup, maltodextrin etc.  Be aware of “sugar free”.  Sugar free could mean it has Aspartame, a nasty sugar substitute.

  4. Choose whole grains over processed.  When it comes to breads and pastas, your better choices are whole grains.  Look for it to say 100% whole grain.  Once again, look at your ingredient list.  If it says whole grain on the package, it may not be.  Also, choose whole grain breads and pastas with a higher fiber content to ensure slower digestion. 

5.  Stick with a short ingredient list.  Ingredients are listed in order of what the food contains most of.  You want your first few ingredients to be unprocessed recognizable ingredients.  If the food contains a long list of ingredients, many of which you cant even pronounce, just place it back on the shelf.  If you can’t recognize the words, chances are your body won’t know what it is either. 

6. Minimize sodium intake.  Sodium intake should be limited to less than 2,300 mg/day, and less for higher risk populations.  Many processed foods will have a high sodium content, so make sure not to ignore it.

7. Don’t ignore serving sizes.  It’s important to understand your serving sizes, especially if you’re trying to lose weight.  Most of us eat more than the serving size, which can make the calories add up quickly.  For example, if a serving size of a food item was 1, and your calories per serving size were 130 but you ended up having a portion that was 3 servings, you’ve now consumed 390 calories.  If this was a food item that you were having as a snack, you can see where it can start to add up.

Hopefully this list will help some of you make better choices during your next trip to the grocery store!  A lot of times you’ll hear people say to “shop the perimeter” of the store.  While a lot of natural whole foods are located around the perimeter, there are plenty of foods that are okay for us that are located in the aisles as well.  You just have to know what to look for.  

Strengthen Your "Core"

I witnessed something the other day at the gym that prompted this post.  The other day I witnessed someone at the gym who easily spent over an hour doing ab work.  Now, when I say "ab" work I'm talking about crunches upon crunches.  Every type of crunch.  Crunches on the floor, crunches on the stability ball, weighted crunches and so on.  For OVER AN HOUR!!!  I honestly couldn't believe that someone was spending that much time on one section of their body, but especially because working your entire core is more important.  While doing ab workouts will help to tone the outside of your stomach, it takes a lot more than just doing crunches for over an hour.  A lot of people want a flat stomach or a six-pack, but what you need to realize is that you should focus more on strengthening your "core".  Some of you may be sitting there scratching your head asking yourself "isn't your core the same thing as your abs?"  No.  When I talk about your core, I'm talking about every muscle that makes up your midsection - upper/lower abdominals, oblique's, and lower back all the way down to your glutes and legs... you know those inner muscles that won't show up on the outside of your belly.  Think of your midsection as a corset.  Abs are simply the muscles on the outside of the stomach.  By training your core, you'll get a tighter stomach and see faster results because you're going to be working more than one muscle group.

So what are the benefits of core strengthening?  Doing core exercises will help you with things like balance and stability and will strengthen the spine. A lot of exercises, especially compound exercises require some good core strength.  It also will help improve posture and reduce back pain.

Think of doing a squat with an overhead press.  You can definitely feel your core tightening and keeping you in balance while doing it.  Do exercises that decrease stability and require more balance.  Try squatting on a BOSU ball or lunging with one foot on the BOSU.  Your core will be working harder to balance you and keep you from falling.  Other great core exercises are planks.  There are a wide variety of planks to choose from, so if you find a regular plank easy and non-challenging, try a different version.

Some Core Exercises To Try:

Plank Push Ups
Plank while lifting one arm out straight and the opposite leg
Side Plank With a Cable Row
Push Ups
Lunge with a twist
Supermans
Single Arm Overhead Press

There are so many more as well!  So next time you have a goal of a flatter stomach, start doing more core exercises instead of just ab workouts!  The rest of your body will thank you.

Chicken Corn Soup

Snow outside means soup inside!  I made my first attempt at making chicken corn soup, and it turned out delicious!

Ingredients:
- 3 thin sliced chicken breasts
- 4 cups low sodium chx broth
- 3/4 onion chopped
- 2 carrots
- 2 celery stalks
- Corn
- 2 Hardboiled eggs
- Salt & pepper for seasoning


Directions:
Place chicken breasts and chopped onion into a deep soup pot.  Pour in your chicken broth plus 1 cup of water.  Bring to medium heat and let cook for about an hour.  While chicken is cooking, chop your carrots and celery.  Also, boil your 2 eggs and set aside.  I cooked my frozen corn for a couple minutes as well before putting into the pot.  Once chicken is cooked scoop it out of the pot and set aside on a plate to cool down.  Once cooled, shred and pull apart into small chunks and place back into the soup pot along with the carrots and celery.  Let cook for about 15 minutes (I had the stove at about a 3-4 heat setting).  Then, chop your hardboiled egg whites and place into soup pot and season with salt and pepper.  Let soup simmer another 15-20 minutes, then serve and enjoy!

Cali Vacation Workout Overview

Whew!  As much as I love vacations and never want them to end, it is good to get back into a steady routine.  Our trip started in San Francisco.  We walked everywhere while we stayed there and if anyone has ever been to San Fran, you know that's a workout in itself!  One word: Hills!!!  And not just any hills, STEEP hills!  We went walking around to see different things our first day, so I got plenty of hill walking in.  One thing that was on my list of fitness "to do's" was to run the Golden Gate Bridge.  I checked that off my list while there!  I was also able to get in a quick strength training routine since our hotel had a small fitness center.

After San Fran we traveled to Napa Valley for a day then headed to Monterey where we stayed for another night before heading down the Pacific Coast Highway to San Diego to visit my sister.  There was another small fitness center in our hotel in Monterey, so I did another strength training session the morning before we headed down the pacific coast.

While in San Diego, we did a 3 mile hike (round trip) up Cowles Mountain (the highest point in the city of San Diego).  It was a nice challenging hike, as it was steep the whole way up.  The view from the top was amazing.  While in San Diego I also went to the gym with my sister and we took a Barre class. It was my first time taking a Barre class and I loved it.  Even if you are in great shape, when you do something different that your body isn't used it, it will be challenging!  Having to do so such small isolated movements was something my body isn't used to.  My legs were shaking and I was definitely feeling the burn!

Quick Strength Training Routine For Vacation:

2-3X (depending on time) 12 Reps (little to no rest between exercises)

Bicep Curls

Dips

Chest Press w/ Hip Bridge

Bent Over Rows

Front Raise

Squat w/ Overhead Press

Side Raise

5X 30 seconds work, 10 seconds rest

Inchworms to Push Up

Rocket Squat (2 pulse downs, jump squat)

Plank Jacks

Side Skaters

Plank Push Ups

*Hop on a treadmill after last round and do a 30 second jog 30 second sprint for 5 more minutes

No Equipment Vacation Workout 

(If your hotel doesn't have a fitness center, you can still do bodyweight exercises!)

3X 12-15 Reps

Squat w/ Standing Cross Over Crunch (opposite knee comes up to meet opposite elbow)

Push Ups

Dips

Hip Bridge

Inchworms to Alternating Side Planks

Spiderman Planks

Alternating Front Lunges

Cardio Circuit:

30-45 secs work, 10 secs rest

5X

Jump Squats

Walking Planks

Half Get Ups 

Plank Jacks

High Knees

Mt. Climbers

Weight Training 101

 Most people come to me because they know strength training is important, but need to learn how to do it.  It can be a very overwhelming thing for people to try to learn, especially on their own.  I'm a huge advocate for strength training, and always let my clients know how important it is for our bodies.  After the age of thirty, you lose about half a pound of muscle a year if you don't strength train.  Some reasons you should be strength training include - it builds muscle and reduces body fat, increases strength, increases bone density, increases metabolic rate (burn more calories throughout the day), prevents injuries, helps prevent diseases, and makes everyday tasks easier (carrying groceries, picking things up, walking up the stairs etc.)

The Basics:

You don't have to be a bodybuilder to strength train.  Everyone benefits from it and should incorporate it into their exercise routine.  It's recommended that strength training be done 2-3 times per week to at least reap the minimum benefits.  While there are many different approaches and plans, I'm only going to give examples of two basic ways to structure your workouts.  These two ways will incorporate working every major muscle group throughout the week, which is important so that your body is in balance.  You want to be working every major muscle group so that you don't develop muscle imbalances which could lead to injuries or poor posture.  

Two Basic Options:

3 Total Body workouts throughout the week

-Incorporate 1-2 exercises for each major muscle group

-Quads, hamstrings, chest, back, biceps, triceps and shoulders

-Compound exercises are a great way to work more than one muscle group at a time (for example: a squat with an overhead press)

Split Routines (Split your workout days into different muscle groups)

-Example: Day 1: Back/Biceps, Day 2: Legs/Abs, Day 3: Chest/Shoulders/Triceps

-Incorporate 2-3 exercises for each major muscle in the split

Repetitions and Sets:

When trying to build muscle you should aim for 8-12 reps.  Anything over 12 will be working for muscle endurance.  However, I always recommend lighter weight and more reps (15) for beginners so that they can learn proper form and movement first.  You should be tired by the 12th rep and that's when you know you are using the right amount of weight.  

You should aim for 3-4 sets.  You can rest 30 to 60 seconds between sets, perform 2 exercises back to back without rest, perform 3 in a row without rest etc.  You can choose any of the options listed; just keep in mind your fitness level. 

Rest:

Allow your muscles to recover.  When you strength train, you are breaking down your muscle fibers and they need time to rebuild.  Don't train the same muscle groups on consecutive days.  

Change It Up:

Our bodies are GREAT at adapting, so you should be progressing every 4-6 weeks, which means you'll need to change things up a bit.  Simple things you can do to change it up include - increase your weight (especially if it's getting easy at your current amount), switch up your rest periods between sets (you could also perform "active" rests between sets doing exercises such as jumping jacks or mt. climbers), your positioning (incline bench instead of flat or change the order of your workouts during the week.  

Gym or At Home: 

The great part about strength training is you don't need a gym.  I try to utilize a bunch of different fitness equipment as much as possible. Medicine balls, kettlebells, BOSU balls, stability balls, dumbbells, cables, your own bodyweight etc.  the possibilities are endless!  If the gym isn't your thing, you can still get an effective workout in at home. 

Extra Tips: 

Write down your fitness goals.  Write down your short-term goals as well as your long-term goal.  It's important to know what you are working toward and it will help keep you motivated.

Write down your workouts ahead of time.  Planning ahead is key!  If you have your workouts on your calendar for the week and already have them written down, you'll be less likely to skip out.

Track your progress.  Keep track of the amount of weight you're using for your exercises so you know if you are progressing.  As mentioned above, every 4-6 weeks you should be able to increase your weight.  Also, tracking your progress will help keep you on track and once you start to see results it will keep you motivated to keep going!

Lastly, don't get discouraged.  Your mind will want to give up way before your body does.  Keep pushing yourself and keep reminding yourself why you started.  You may have a few slip ups along the way and that's okay!  Just get right back on track and keep going.  One of my favorite sayings - Small steps lead to BIG changes!

Overnight Oats

Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Overnight Oats

Or as I like to say, heaven in a jar!

Ingredients:

Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk
1/2 Cup of Oats (I use 1 Cup, but I try to eat a big breakfast)
1 Banana
1 Tablespoon of Natural Peanut Butter (only ingredient is peanuts)
1 Tablespoon of Ground Flax
1 Scoop of Chocolate Whey Protein

You can use any type of glass or jar container, I just love the mason jars.

Scoop in your oats, ground flax and chocolate whey protein and cover the jar and shake around to get everything more mixed.  Add your almond milk (I don't measure my milk,  I just pour a little at a time until all of the oatmeal is moist and keep adding to my liking.  If you like your oatmeal more watery you'll want more almond milk).  Add your tablespoon of peanut butter and stir well.  Once everything is stirred, cut your banana into small slices or chunks and add to your oatmeal.  Stir again and once everything is set, leave in the fridge overnight.  In the morning it will be ready to eat!