Seems I've been struggling with almost everything lately. Some of
this comes from pushing my self past my old limits. Quit my gym
membership last August. Don't let the whole "no muscle heads allowed"
in Planet Fitness adverts fool you. They were there in force. They just
don't look like the muscle bound guy in the commercial. I ended up
hating going and dealing with them hogging the machines. So since August
I've been working out 5 days a week at home and subsequently am in the
best shape of my life. Lost 25 lbs and transformed myself but now have
hit a plateau and this is where I've given up in the past. So it's about
changing things up and starting at the bottom again.
I
accidentally found H.I.I.T. one day online [High Intensity Interval
Training] and the Tabata clock [http://www.beach-fitness.com/tabata/]
You set the clock for 8-10 rounds 60 seconds on and 30 seconds rest and
go for the 12-15 minutes it takes. It sounds easy but I guarantee you
won't get through 3 rounds to start. There are any number of exercises
you can do in this time. The one I choose was and stepping up on a
weight bench and lifting 15 lb dumbells overhead and then stepping
down. It works out to be around 12 times in a minute. Then 30 second
rest, drink some water and then go again for another minute. I've been
doing this 3 times a week since august and now have to change up the
exercise since my body is used to it. One thing I learned about this
sort of workout and it's advantage over jogging or treadmill is with the
addition of weights or just the fact that you're using your whole body
weight is your metabolism is raised and continues to be elevated for
hours after the exercise is over.
With treadmill and jogging as
soon as you stop your metabolism goes back down. So fat loss is enhanced
by the HIIT style exercises.
On alternate days [like today] I just do weight lifting [dumbells 15/20 and 25 lbs.]
So
you don't need a gym membership just some dumbells and a weight bench
or something stable to step up on. I would see some people in the gym
for years and they never looked like it was working as they were still
fat and out of shape!
