Fab Fit Squad

Most people think because you are a personal trainer you are super human… UMMM NO.

image fitsugar

We have those days when we don’t want to work out and sometimes even when we set a fitness goal and get in the middle of training we say to ourselves, what did I sign myself up for.

That is me right now. Literally I signed up to the Miami half marathon. (I am registered, have a non-refundable plane ticket and hotel) Just 6 short weeks ago I thought it would be a fun challenge and keep me motivated through the holidays. WELP.. not so much. Today’s 19 degrees with a wind chill of 4 and I had to do 4 miles. Go ahead and call me a wimp, but this kid wasn’t going outside. So.. instead I decided I could suck it up and run on the treadmill for 4 miles how hard go it be.  In a word FREAK’N HARD!!!

Well.. even though the Jessica Simpson E True Hollywood story was on I still felt like a Gerbil on a wheel  so…4 treadmills, yes 4 treadmills every mile I moved one, because I was BORED out of mind and thought that would help not so much. This weekend I have to do 8 miles.. I really need to check the forecast… there is NO WAY I can do it on the treadmill.

So here I am 7 weeks away and wondering seriously who do I think I am. Should I be running a half  marathon?

As I train for the Miami half marathon a good friend of mine and an amazing marathon coach, John Furey has told me the secret to running an injury free marathon is cross training and intervals.

I know interval training has been around for awhile and people have been doing them, but are you really getting out of your comfort zone! Really pushing yourself to that 9-10, when you push yourself to the limit. So.. why do we do it.  Interval training helps:

• boost performance, by making the heart become more efficient at pumping blood
• helping increasing our tolerance for lactic acid burn
• we can increase our intensity in a short amount of time without risk of burning out or injury
• most importantly we BURN MORE FAT!!!!  You read correctly… We burn more fat!!!

So I have know this for years, but have I really pushed myself to the 9-10 zone!!! Honestly speaking I think I have been hanging out in the 7-8 zone. So I have been cheating myself of all of the benefits. Okay let me be honest the benefit I really want is FAT BURNING. Okay I’m training for a half marathon, I’d like to be able to be able to cross the finish line on my own 2 feet and not be dragging ass! So.. interval training will be my friend 2x/week until January 31st.
Now my interval will be a combination of cardio machines and metabolic circuits using only my bodyweight and light weights. Check out this one below.  If you have bodyweight circuit that you would like to share tell me about it, just write below in the comments

You seen them on infomercials or maybe at the gym.  It called a kettlebell and it has been around since the 1800s and now the great training program is getting a major resurgence.  Okay enough history, what does it do for me? Well the kettlebell combines FAT BURNING and STRENGTH training.  You heard me.  Cardio and lifting in one!!!!

There is a little bit of a learning curve and you can do it at home!!

For a quick workout, I do 10 rounds of:

• 10 double handed swings
• 10 single handed swings
• Jump rope for 1 min

Take a 30 second break

I also use this program on days when I don’t have much time.

Want to learn more. Try this program at home

Okay maybe you aren’t up for an Oscar or maybe you may never be, but we all have our events that we need to be Oscar ready for.  When I’m getting ready for a fitness show I rely heavily on itrain to give me the extra boost and motivation and I need to get them through a workout. My favorite one is itread #13 — sprinting is awesome and a bootie kicker.