Interval training

I'll admit, there was a time in my life when I couldn't for the life of me understand why people run.  Just the thought of running any distance further than from my front door to the mailbox gave me the willies. I had a good friend who was training for a half marathon and I would shake my head in disbelief as she would recount her training progress.  But earlier this year, I decided to give it a try.  I was getting a bit bored at the gym and felt I needed a new challenge to keep me going. So I hopped on a treadmill and ran...and ran...and ran.  Now I love running.  I put on some good music and go.  My feet and breath fall into a rhythm with the beat of the music and I don't even realize when 3 or 4 miles have gone by.

But after a while, you can get bored with running too. It can be hard to find new ways to challenge yourself.  That's why I LOVE the new workout I discovered recently!  This workout works interval training into your daily treadmill routine.  Interval training is really beneficial when it comes to burning calories, shedding fat and boosting your metabolism.  The basic principle of interval training is to alternate levels of high-intensity work with low-intensity work or even periods of rest. Basically get that heart pumping, then let it rest. Rinse and repeat!

This particular routine takes you from a fairly slow pace to a fast pace 5 times.  It takes 46 minutes:

1 minute at 4.5

1 minute at 5

1 minute at 5.5

1 minute at 6

1 minute at 6.5

1 minute at 7

1 minute at 7.5

1 minute at 8

2 minutes at 4.5

repeat 5 times.

The first time I tried it I was AMAZED at how many calories I had burned! It's a real killer and I guarantee you'll feel it the next day! And if 8 isn't fast enough for you, you can always alter it! My husband bumps his speed up by 1 every minute until he's running at a 10 (so his cycles end up being shorter).

Of course after a good run it's always good to get in some good weight training! And I did promise to give y'all some workouts to use on the floor, so I'd love to share with you my shoulder routine.  In the time I've been doing free weights, the muscle I'm most amazed with is my shoulders. I can't believe the change I've seen in the muscle in the time I've been working on it.  Here is the routine I use:

(3 sets of 10 reps each)

Dumbbell Shoulder Press  - See how to do this exercise here

Lawnmower - stand with feet wider than should width apart. Begin with weight in right hand positioned near left ankle. Move the weight across the body and end with it at the right shoulder, elbow bent and pointing as far to the ceiling as you can get it. Return to starting position. This is one rep.  Repeat on left side.

Side Lateral Raise - See how to do this exercise here

Start with a 5 pound dumbbell and see how it feels. If it's easy, go up to the next weight (usually this will be 10 pounds, but could be 7.5 depending on what's available).  Try to do the heaviest weight that you can. But remember, if your form starts to deteriorate, your weight is too heavy and you need to go down!

I hope you'll give both of these workouts a try! If you do, please be sure to let me know what you think in the comments!