My Favorite (Type of) Workout

It’s impossible for me to indicate my one favorite exercise or workout. I have tried every kind of fitness class and equipment out there it seems, and many have stood the test of time, many have lasted no longer than a brief flash (remember the Shake Weight??). For me it really is about VARIETY. My favorite type of workouts are ones that have different exercises, tempos, paces, alternating from strength to cardio and both, So HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) exercises are my go to. You work your ass off but for a shorter time and get the same benefits as taking an hour-long class. The HIIT formula is usually based on timed intervals and each interval is a different exercise. This formula can be adapted to focus strictly on cardio, or abs, or strength training, or as I prefer, all of the above. Tabata is another form of HIIT with a very specific 20 seconds of hard, quick work and a 10 second rest and repeating that exercise 4-8 times before moving on to the next.

The following is an example of a HIIT workout. Do each exercise for 50 seconds and rest for 10 seconds before moving to the next. To ramp it up even more, add weighs and turn that “rest” into cardio (jump rope, jog on the spot, jacks). To really intensify this I like to add a cardio round in between each exercise (adding 50 seconds of jump rope between each exercise). You can do the circuit one time or repeat up to 6X. Do a 3-5 minute warm-up of jogging on the spot, jumping jacks or stairs, or jump rope.

WORKOUT  50” work/ 10” *rest, 1-5 rounds

• Circuit:

1. Pushups (knees, toes, or alternating one-legged)
2. Double Crunch Abs (hips & shoulders come off floor at same time) – bent or straight legs
3. Mountain Climbers
4. Squats – hands overhead
5. Burpees
6. Alternating Rear Lunges
7. Bicycle Abs
8. Frog Jumps (forward and back) drop bum close to floor
9. Straight Arm Plank with alternating Arm lifts
10. Squat to alternating front kick
11. Split Jumps
12. Triceps Dips (on floor or off sturdy chair or table)
13. V-sit Abs (hold or twist)
14. 4 shuffles right (touch the floor), 4 shuffles left touch floor – REPEAT