My first tip? DO CARDIO! The number one question I get from people about loosing weight is "what can I do to trim my waistline?" My number one answer? CARDIO! A huge part of keeping trim is your diet, but an equally important part of living a healthy lifestyle is fitting exercise into your every day routine. I know it is not a priority or even realistic to make a trip to the gym every day (or even every other day) but it's important to at least get in 20 minutes of any kind of exercise, whether it's playing a sport, walking the dog after dinner, or even taking a jog around the block a few times.
When I was at my fittest, I somehow squeezed cardio into my daily routine - no matter what. I've been known to go for a run in the morning and then taking a spinning class followed by a weight training class after work when I'm getting ready for a photo shoot. I'm not saying you should do this...because overdoing it can cause too much wear and tear on your joints. What I would recommend to everyone is to fit a healthy cardio regime into your weekly workout routine.
Not the biggest fan of running on a treadmill? Do you live in Florida (like me) and think it's too hot to run outside all the time? There's tons of different ways to get cardio, but for this WIO tip I'm going to give you two different versions of an interval running workout that will spice up your boring running routine, and help you trim that waistline in no time...
*WIO TIP: Always do a quick stretch before a running workout targeting your legs, calves, back and arms. I also encourage equipping yourself up with music, or watching television if you're inside of a gym equipped with one. There's nothing worse than being bored during a workout. Distracting yourself with some kind of entertainment will help you to stare at the clock as a time reference, not to count down time remaining in your workout.
a minute on, a minute off intervals:
Well, you guessed it...the title means exactly what it says. You can use this workout on or off the treadmill, as long as you have a clock or stopwatch with you.
workout time: 35 minutes
if you're on a treadmill:
Start your minute on-minute off workouts with a warm up walk for 2 minutes, at a 3.5mph speed. Every treadmill is different, so if you're not sure about how fast you should be going, it should feel like you are power walking, or taking a brisk walk.
When you hit the 2 minute mark, up the speed to 5.0mph and increase your speed by 0.5 mph at each minute mark, until you hit 10 minutes. For example: at 3 minutes you will run at 5.5, at 4 minutes you will run at 6, at 5 minutes you will run at 6.5 and so on, until you get to the 10 minute mark.
The 10-minute mark will start intervals, with the 10-11 minute being used as your first "minute off" rest time. Do
this by splitting your feet on the sides of the treadmill, removing them from
the belt. Use the handlebars of the treadmill for support, and place
your feet on the sidebars. Literally, take a minute "off" of the treadmill to rest before you start your first interval run.
*NOTE:
some treadmills don't allow you to do this and will shut off with
inactivity on the belt. If this happens, you can either carefully place
your foot on the belt every now and then or change the running speed
from 5.5 down to walking (around 3mph) every minute.
When you get to the 11 minute mark it is time to kick it up a notch by increasing your incline. Again, it depends on the treadmill (some go up to 10, some go up to 20 or higher), but I go up to a level 5 on mine.
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| This is actually a maximum incline, to show you what I'm talking about. |
It should be high enough that it's a challenge for you to get through a minute of running, but not impossible. Run at at incline of let's say 5 at a speed of 5.5mph. If at any time you feel your incline level is too high, decrease it. You should at least aim for the 5.5mph speed, and adjust your incline level accordingly, after your speed is set.
Run at your preferred incline for a "minute on", meaning for one minute from the 11-12 minute mark. When you get to 12:00, it's time for your second "minute off" and repeat placing your feet on the sidebars of the treadmill. Get ready for your next "minute on" at 13:00 and do your 2nd interval at the 13-14 minute mark. When you get to the 14:00, take your next "minute off", and repeat the cycle until you get to 10 intervals.
If you complete all 10 intervals, you will end your last one at the 30 minute mark. Take your "minute off" at 30 minutes, but as soon as you can, lower the incline back to 0, and walk at your warm up speed at 3.5mph. Cool down by walking at this pace for 3-4 minutes and take your last minute of this workout slowly lowering the speed from 3.5mph to 0.
if you're running outside:
- Start your minute on-minute off workouts with a warm up walk for 2 minutes at a power walk speed.
- When you hit the 2 minute mark, get to a steady jog and keep that pace until you hit the 10 minute mark.
- The 10-minute mark will start intervals, with the 10-11 minute being used as your first "minute off" rest time. Slow down to a normal (not power) walking speed for a minute.
- When you get to the 11 minute mark it is time to kick it up a notch by increasing your speed to a full on sprint. Since you're not on a treadmill and don't have the incline to challenge you, it's important to make it hard by going has hard as you can for a full minute.
- When you get to 12 minutes, take your 2nd "minute off" walk and repeat this cycle until you do 10 intervals. For example: do your next "minute on" sprint at the 13-14, do your next "minute off" walk at the 14-15, and so on.
- If you complete all 10 intervals, you will end your last one at the 30 minute mark.
- Use the last 5 minutes of your cardio time to cool down by walking back to your home, your car, or wherever you need to go.
Counting your calories? Since there's so many different variables in counting calories for this workout (inclines, speeds, running on a treadmill vs. running outside) I can't tell you how many calories you will burn, but I can share a great running calories burned calculator:
| Estimate the calories you burned running: | ||
| Pace: | ||
| Weight: | ||
| Time: | ||
Powered by Everyday Health.
And that should do it. Stay tuned for more cardio & WIO tips & let me know if or how interval training has helped you!
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