What is Stopping You from Working Out?

Could it be that you find gyms boring or intimidating?  Or are you time poor and you never seem to find the hours needed to attend classes? Maybe you just don’t like exercise…all that getting sweaty..yuk!

Of course we know that when it comes to gaining health and losing weight that you need to move.  Being more active on a daily basis is good for cardiovascular  health but when it comes to losing fat, you need to move with intent, move with purpose…and that does mean a bit of sweat.

But it needn’t take hours..or even a gym to gain maximum results.

Maybe HIIT Could Be The Answer For You?

High Intensity Interval Training, or HIIT, is an intense interval training workout designed to trigger anaerobic metabolism. This type of metabolism develops fast twitch muscle fibers commonly used by non endurance sports athletes to develop better muscle memory, speed and power.

HIIT consists of short, intense workouts followed by mellow recovery periods. A full High Intensity Interval Training session usually lasts a total of about ten to twenty minutes. At The Body Retreat we have 8 minute HIIT workouts on our Weight Loss Retreat every day… its tough, but its only 8 minutes which really flies by quickly and then you are done!

Some of the benefits of HIIT include improved overall athletic capacity and condition, improved glucose metabolism– meaning your body processes energy from food more efficiently– and improved fat burning. HIIT, in other words, conditions your body to stay at a healthy weight by essentially making your metabolism more efficient and effective. HIIT is a healthy way to lose weight and keep it off, and it can only take ten minutes a day !

Studies have shown that engaging in HIIT three times per week substantially reduced total body fat and increased insulin resistance in women.

HIIT Workout

You don’t need any equipment or special clothing to do a HIIT workout…well apart from a decent sport bra.

You can do this workout in your sitting room while you are watching TV, in the kitchen while you are cooking supper or in your bedroom just before you jump in the shower in the morning.

8 Min HIIT Workout

Jogging on the spot with high knees  – count to 30

Sit down stand up – sit on the floor and get back up again 5 times quick as you can

Jumping Jacks or Half Jack – count to 30

Sit down stand up – sit on the floor and get back up again 5 times quick as you can

Repeat this short sequence three times in total.  

You should be out of breath and will have quite a Glow on.  You have just cranked up your metabolism with HIIT.

There are many different examples of HIIT training. An example of an effective HIIT exercise is thirty to forty seconds of sprinting at maximum effort and speed, followed by fifteen to twenty seconds of walking or jogging. Eventually, if you work at it for long enough, you should be able to do six repetitions of this, followed by a cool down exercise, such as walking.

Lose Weight While You Are Sitting!

It has been proven that HIIT improves resting metabolism in women which means that through HIIT, you could actually be losing weight when you’re sitting down!  So, get moving, shift the fat and then keep your weight off with short workouts you can do any time and any where.

High intensity interval training is very physically demanding and should be done only if your body can handle the physical strain of working at maximum levels for short periods of time, but if you can handle it and most of our Body Retreat clients do, it will greatly increase your metabolism efficiency and cardiovascular health.