Well I don’t know about you guys, but I’m ready for this rain to stop. I quite enjoyed it over the weekend – it was a good excuse to stay indoors and relax – but now I’m it’s time for the sun to return! Just last week I was marking the winter solstice and celebrating the downhill slide to summer, but it seems someone is out there making a mockery of me. Or maybe just reminding me that I should leave weather forecasting to the experts.
By now there’s a fair chance you’re aware of my love for High Intensity Interval Training – and in my defence, what’s not to love about a workout that’s time-efficient, burns big calories (for up to 24 hours after you finish your workout!) and helps increase your aerobic capacity? Truth is though, this extreme level of intensity is not for everyone, and in many cases, regular interval training is going to be challenging and effective enough for you to get results.
Sometimes the right sportswear can make all the difference to your training. There’s nothing worse than sports bras that chafe, tights that wear holes in unfortunate places or shoes that give you blisters – and we all know that in the depths of winter, any excuse is a good one to stay in bed. Lucky for you I’ve got a little sportwear obsession – I’m the kind of girl that goes out to buy a dress and comes home with a new pair of tights and three singlets instead. In fact, I’ve probably owned more pieces of sportswear than you’ve had hot dinners and today that comes in handy because I’m going to share my winter favourites with you. You’re welcome.
As anyone who has done a few sessions with me will tell you, Tabata is one of my favourite methods of training. I love it for many reasons, but if I had to whittle it down to just three I’d say 1) It’s time-efficient 2) It’s simple and 3) you can do it anywhere.
I’m a big believer in incidental exercise – always have been. It’s one part of me that is decidedly un-lazy actually (if you can accept that un-lazy is even a thing). Really, why drive to places that are within walking distance? Why wait around for an elevator when you could be up two flights of stairs in less than a minute? I’ve always liked to think of these things as free exercise. Extra calories here and there that I can burn just going about my everyday life. And you know what? It all adds up!
No, it’s not a skipping rope. I am, of course, talking about a DOG. Seriously, a dog is your ticket to incidental exercise. When you make the decision to own a dog, you’re making a commitment of sorts to your health and wellbeing. A dog needs to be walked, he needs to breathe fresh air and other doggie smells and your ‘I’ll start tomorrow’ excuses just won’t cut it with him.
