Jeff Angel
There are 11 Components of Physical Fitness. Do you know all of them? If so, do you incorporate them into your daily workout routine? Learn about the Components of Physical Fitness by clicking HERE.
The following tips are just a few ways to shed pounds within a few weeks. However, following these tips alone is not enough to maintain a healthy lifestyle. In addition to these tips, you must exercise regularly. Consistent healthy eating, decreased daily calorie intake, and daily exercise will certainly help you to lose body fat, decrease your overall body weight, and firm up your muscles. When exercising, be sure to incorporate all components of physical fitness into your workout. Not only will these components of physical fitness help you to lose weight, they will help you to get through your daily activities without being exhausted at the end of the day.
Sorry for not being so regular with my blogs lately. Training clients and handling family life can be overwhelming! Thanks again to everyone that voted for Bring It Home Personal Training in the clickondetroit.com “Vote 4 the Best” contest. If you haven’t heard, we did win the contest! That’s the last I’ll mention it. Let’s get back to blogging…
These 5 tips are my best tips for improving physical fitness levels:
1. You must do strength training at least twice a week. Total body workouts are great for building muscular strength and endurance.
2. You have to do cardiovascular endurance training every day for at least 30 minutes. Your heart is the most important muscle in your body. Keep it strong!
3. Be sure to stretch all muscle groups every day! Stretching may help to prevent injuries and will certainly help you to release stress and relax.
4. Drink plenty of water throughout the day. A good rule of thumb is to drink approximately half of your body weight in ounces of water per day. For example: if you weigh 120 pounds, you should drink approximately 60 ounces of water a day.
5. Get plenty of sleep, at least 7 to 8 hours a day. Your body grows and repairs itself when sleeping. A good night sleep will help you to get through a long day of school and/or work and leave you with plenty of energy to exercise.
Obviously there are many more healthy tips out there. These are just five of my favorites to help improve physical fitness levels. Of course, be sure to eat plenty of fruits and vegetables, complex carbohydrates, and lean proteins. Improving your physical fitness level can be accomplished at any age. As you’ve heard from me in the past, consistency and motivation are keys to achieving your goals. Stay active and eat healthy!
High Intensity Interval Training, or HIIT, has been around for years but is finally coming into mainstream fitness for individuals of all ages and fitness levels. Several years ago, HIIT was incorporated into the training regimens of Olympic, Professional, and Collegiate athletes. The benefits of high intensity training for these athletes included higher VO2 Max, greater lung capacity, improved oxygen utilization, delayed onset of lactic acid build up in muscle cells, and greater overall output during practice, drills, games, and competitions.
That’s all good stuff, right? To the average person these improvements don’t mean much. What it does mean to the average person is this: burn a lot of calories in a short period of time while boosting your metabolism and improving your cardiovascular conditioning.
Many of my clients and friends complain of having to do long, tiresome, and boring cardio workouts that leave them wishing there was a better way to “get it done”. HIIT is the way to get it done in a shorter period of time but with a much higher intensity level. You really need to work your butt off to make this work for you!
To start, you must determine your Target Heart Rate Zone (THRZ). This can be done by clicking here. During HIIT, the goal is to get your heart rate up to the upper end of the THRZ, keep it there for a short period of time (1 -2 minutes), then bring it down to the middle of your THRZ for a short period of time, then back up again. This pattern should be performed for 20 to 30 minutes.
This type of training is called high intensity for a reason. It is challenging and tough to do. You will breath heavily and sweat a lot when performed properly. The goal is to get your heart rate up as high and as safe as possible in a short period of time in order to burn high amounts of calories. Depending on your training schedule, HIIT can be performed 2-3 times per week.
The following HIIT programs are some of my favorites to do. These are just examples. I recommend you consult with your physician or a professional fitness instructor before trying these HIIT programs. Be sure to monitor your heart rate to make sure you are at the upper end of your THRZ. It will take approximately 7-8 minutes to get the heart rate up that high. If your heart rate gets too high and you have trouble catching your breath, then lower your intensity by decreasing speed, incline, or pace of exercises. Good luck!
Treadmill HIIT (for beginners):
Repeat 4 more times then do 5 minute cool down (walk at 3.5 mph)
Total Time (including cool down): 30 minutes
Outside HIIT (for intermediate trainees):
Repeat 5 mores times then do 5 minute cool down (slow walk)
Total Time (including cool down): 25 minutes
HIIT Using Calisthenics (for advanced trainees):
Repeat 5 more times then do 5 minute cool down (slow walk)
Approximate Total Time (including cool down): 20 minutes
As you can see, HIIT can be done a variety of ways. The ways to do High Intensity Interval Training is endless. The key items to focus on are your heart rate and your breathing. If either gets to high for your fitness level, then decrease your intensity.
Putting together a HIIT program takes a little bit of thinking and imagination and a lot of hard work and motivation. However, this type of exercise will certainly get you in shape, burn a high amount of calories, and keep your metabolism running high all day long.
Yes, I’m 40 and once again this summer, I intend to wear a bikini.
Some may disagree. Some may think that after 39, you should retire any piece of clothing that shows your mid-section. I, however, can’t help feeling that by hanging up the two-piece, I would be giving in to age and laziness and gravity. I refuse to surrender to these opponents of fitness. So I stubbornly cling to my bikini…one of the last vestiges of my youth.
Hence the dilemma each year when faced with the prospect of actually putting on said bikini and walking around in public. If I worked harder during the winter, took advantage of those long, dark evenings to log hours on my treadmill, I know it would not be such a problem. But summer always sneaks up and finds me ill-prepared. Six weeks until Memorial Day, more than five extra pounds to lose and only 30 minutes to work out. What’s a girl to do?
Shedding pounds quickly requires a commitment to eating right, training with weights and plenty of cardio. Its that simple.
But I hate cardio. There, I said it. Give me anything else. I will do hundreds of crunches, lunges up and down my street, lift ridiculously heavy weights. I’ll do anything not to have to complete long, boring sessions of treadmill walking. But, sadly, building muscle alone is not enough to get bikini ready.
Enter HIIT.
High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) is a cardio-haters best friend. Don’t get me wrong, it isn’t easy. In almost every way, it is harder than spending an hour walking. But for me one of the most challenging parts of long cardio sessions is boredom. With HIIT, I am not bored because it is challenging and changing. I work as hard as I can for a short amount of time and then get a break. It increases metabolism so I burn more calories throughout the day. Plus I don’t need to do an hour of cardio because 20-30 minutes of HIIT is enough.
You can turn almost any workout into a HIIT workout and get more bang for your cardio buck. The goal is to work really hard for a short amount of time, get your heart rate up to the highest end of your target heart rate zone then move to an easier exercise that allows your heart rate to come down for a bit. This cycle is repeated several times. So it doesn’t matter if you are on a treadmill, outside on a walk or doing plyometrics, you can turn any work-out up a notch with HIIT. And after a few weeks of this kind of training, you may find yourself looking forward to putting on whatever swimsuit you choose.
A word of warning: HIIT is serious exercise and not for everyone. As with all exercise, check with a doctor or a trainer to make sure you are ready for the intensity of a HIIT workout.
Is your training becoming boring doing the same old routine day after day? Not seeing any changes in your body or your fitness level? Then you are ready to make some changes in your work-out routine. Interval training is one of the best ways to add high intensity into the same old training routine. If it’s good enough for elite athletes worldwide, then it should be good enough for the average person just trying to stay healthy.
For example, walking can be changed into interval training. If you’re in good shape, you can incorporate short bursts of jogging into your regular brisk walks. If you’re less fit, you might alternate leisurely walking with periods of faster walking. If you’re walking outdoors, you could walk faster between mailboxes, trees or other landmarks.
