I’ve recently changed the way I train. In the week it’s mainly free weights and the odd 5km run and at the weekend I now lay off the weights, do some cardio and some form of HIIT. I put this workout together a little while ago and tend to do this on a Saturday morning. This takes about 30 mins. So work hard, work up a sweat then the rest of the day is yours to do with what you want!
I am not a qualified Personal Trainer or medical professional.
All the views expressed are my own. I am an experienced runner and train regularly at the Gym. All my fitness programmes and training have been designed to suit my own fitness capabilities and goals but happy to share if you are looking for inspiration and motivation.
Before embarking on any form of exercise or fitness programme or if you have any medical issues or injuries please ensure you seek professional medical advice.
I’ve lost a bit of motivation lately, hit a wall and not been as motivated to push myself. I’m still enjoying my free weight sessions but want to get the heart pumping a little bit more. So for the last month I have added a new full body workout to my fitness routine.
So firstly, I’ve been hitting the Cross-Trainer. Ok so this is not part of the Full Body Workout I’m posting but for me 15 minutes interval training on the cross trainer is just the ticket to get the heart pumping. Read my post 5 Cross Trainer Workouts To Try if you would like to have a go at HIIT style intervals on the Cross Trainer.
Then I’m then doing the following 15 Minute Full body Workout. 3 rounds of 5 different exercises. All exercises in each round are performed back to back with a rest after each round; I generally rest for 30 to 60 seconds but it is entirely up to you. The goal is to preform 3 rounds of this workout within 15 minutes. Don’t worry if you struggle to do this but the fitter you get the easier it will become to complete all 3 rounds. It’s quality over quantity! Please make sure you warm up properly before the workout and try and find time for a 5 minute cool down and stretch after.
I am not a personal trainer or medical professional.
All the views expressed are my own. I am an experienced runner and train regularly at the Gym. All of my workouts have been designed to suit my own fitness capabilities and goals but I am happy to share for those looking for inspiration, workout ideas or motivation.
Before embarking on any form of fitness programme or if you have any medical conditions or injuries please seek professional medical advice.
Normally I’m not big on cardio at the gym, generally doing a HIIT or a 5km is enough for me. However recently when the weather hasn’t been great or it’s been mega busy around the free weights area of the gym I have started to do the odd cardio workout and have enjoyed doing them as they are different to my normal free weight sessions. Normally I do something HIIT Style on the treadmill but I’ve also started to use the Cross Trainer (or Elliptical as it’s also known as) a little more. I find that having a specifc workout gives me something to focus on and helps me up my effort levels when it comes to the sprint or higher intensity elements. So if you are stuck for inspiration here are 5 Cross Trainer Workouts that I have found on Pinterest that you can try next time you are at the Gym.
I hope that has given you some inspiration when looking for a workout to try on the Cross Trainer. I will put together my own but in the meantime if you are looking for a HIIT style treadmill workout take a look at my Quick HIIT 20 Minute Treadmill Workout.
In my own experience it’s good to mix up your fitness routine such as trying different types of cardio, fitness classes or types of exercises. It helps to keep you motivated to continue on your fitness journey and ultimately achieve your fitness goals.
This is my second of 2 full body workouts. This workout and My Full Body Workout #1 have been put together on the basis that although I might be short on time I can still get in a decent workout.
No supersets involved, mid-range reps for me have allowed to push up the weights up for some of the exercises. With warm-up and taking my time, this work out takes me roughly 40 mins. I’ve been aiming to do this in rotation with workout #1 twice a week. so far that’s worked. On the days I’m not at the Gym I try and get a run in or a HIIT session. For ideas for HIIT check out my Pinterest Board – The Body Coach Workouts.
I am not a Personal Trainer or Medical Professional.
All the views expressed on this blog are my own, I am an experienced Runner and train regularly at the Gym. All my workouts have been designed to suit my own fitness capabilities and goals but I am happy to share for those looking inspiration, workout ideas or motivation.
Before embarking on any form of exercise or fitness programme or if you have any medical conditions or injuries please seek professional medical advice.
My workload has been crazy for the last few weeks and I’ve also upped my hours. Kids are also back into the swing of things at school and the usual after school activities. So it’s all taking it’s toll on what time I can squeeze out for other things. So annoyingly it’s compromised my fitness, in particular my gym visits and the time I can devote to a decent workout. Yeah quicker to go out for a run but the Gym is where I really de-stress, switch off, work on achieving some of my fitness goals and concentrate on something that is purely for me.
If time becomes a fitness barrier, take this opportunity to re-think how you train
So I’ve had to re-think how I can train, get a decent routine and still have time for everything else. Before I’ve been able to focus on one area to train at a time. Chest and back, legs, arms and shoulders. HIIT or run sessions when I’m not at the gym. Now I’m aiming for a full body workout when I go to the gym. I’ve upped my rep’s so it feels that I’m still getting a proper workout, here are no super sets involved and I’ve set a goal to gradually push my weights up. so still pushing myself, still building up my strength but doing it a little differently.
I’ve got 2 full body workout programmes, this is my first one which I will rotate with my second during the week. I’ll post that separately as I’ve not had a chance to get a graphic together for it. I’ve been through this a couple of times at my Gym (when it’s quiet) its been taking me about 40 mins which is perfect for me at the moment.
I am not a qualified Personal Trainer or Medical Professional.
All the views expressed are my own. I am an experienced runner and train regularly at the gym. All my workouts have been designed to suit my own fitness capabilities and goals but I am happy to share for those looking for inspiration, workout ideas or motivation.
Before embarking on any form of exercise or fitness programme or if you have any medical conditions or injuries please seek professional medical advice.
This full body HIIT workout will take only 12 minutes, so great if you are short on time but will still get your heart pumping, metabolism racing and ultimately burn fat. No equipment apart from a timer on your phone or a stop watch. If you struggle just think quality over quantity; the more you keep doing HIIT the fitter you will get and the more rep’s you will be able to perform in the time. Concentrate on good form for each exercise, you and your body will benefit more by doing this than trying to rush and not doing the exercises properly. I’ve added some links YouTube to the exercises listed to help you if you are not sure what they are.
As always with any form of exercise, please make sure you warm up properly before for a good 5 minutes at least, I usually perform a series of dynamic stretches. Also don’t attempt any exercise if you have any injury without seeking advice beforehand from a medical professional.
6 exercises. 20 seconds per exercise. 10 seconds rest after each exercise. Repeat 4 times.
I’m off to New York next month, I am so excited. This month is full of all sorts of social events for me; lots of May birthdays, end of Rugby Season Ball, Magic Weekend (Rugby League) plus May Half-term. So needless to say, more socialsing is taking a toll on my diet and to some degree my fitness. So I’ve decided to incorporate a HIIT routine into my week a couple of times a week, scale back on the running but maintain my gym sessions.
I’m a BIG fan of HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training), it ticks many boxes for me. Firstly, the workouts generally tend to be relatively short so it works with a busy work and family life! Being shorter in length though doesn’t mean HIIT is easier, I’d say if done right it can be exactly the opposite. Think shorter period of time but using maximum effort.
With any exercise please make sure you warm up properly beforehand and don’t attempt any form of exercise if you are injured without seeking medical advice.
At Home HIIT Workout #1
4 Rounds. 4 Exercises per Round. 15 Seconds Rest after each exercise. Total Time 12 Minutes.
When I am short on time or the weather outside is dreadful I use this 20 Minute Treadmill Workout if I fancy a run or need to blast my cardio. It’s my favourite go-to treadmill workout and gives my body a shock, gets the heart pumping and I always get a post workout buzz once I’ve finished it.
I’ve deliberately not put my treadmill speeds on as everyone runs at different paces and also I tend to vary my speeds depending on how energetic I’m feeling or how much I really want to push myself.
Remember to always warm up properly first, although the first 5 minutes of this workout is a warm-up I tend to make sure I perform some dynamic stretches before I jump on the treadmill.
I am not a qualified Personal Trainer or medical professional.
All the views expressed are my own. I am an experienced runner and train regularly at the Gym. All my fitness programmes and training have been designed to suit my own fitness capabilities and goals but happy to share if you are looking for inspiration and motivation.
Before embarking on any form of exercise or fitness programme or if you have any medical issues or injuries please ensure you seek professional medical advice.
Ever heard of the One Mile Running Challenge? No? Let me explain how I came about this. Now I’m a huge fan of running 5km. Main reason is generally it takes no more than 30 minutes so kind of fits into daily life; well mine at least. Plus being able to get 3 runs in a week ticks a box when it comes to my commitment to staying fit.
So what next?
It got to the point where running a 5km became somewhat boring, I’d trained for 5k races. Having become fairly proficient at running a 5km I did what a lot of runners do when needing a new challenge I decided to start upping my distance. Also there seemed to be an abundance of longer distance races I could train for it I’d wanted to commit to training for such an event. So I pushed myself and my fitness by running 10km then when this became less of a challenge I went for 15km. Great you might think? To some extent probably but it also had a negative effect on my running and motivation.
Firstly all of a sudden I was having to commit up to 90 minutes per run. That was not always possible and the guilt inevitably kicked in if I didn’t or missed a gym session in order to accommodate a longer run.
I became a ‘shuffler’; apparently this happens a lot with runners that up their distances. I didn’t seem to have the spring in my running stride that I had developed when running 5km.
Overall my pace began to slow and my performance began to plateau. I might have been tired after a longer run I was never that exhausted that my heart felt like it was going to burst through my chest and my legs felt like jelly; it appeared that my body had adapted to this new distance.
Running further became somewhat boring plus I had to put more thought into route planning.
My motivation began to fade and the prospect of a run lost its appeal; even focusing on the post-run buzz was not much of a motivator anymore.
A new running challenge was required
Trawling through websites for inspiration I happened upon the idea of setting the goal of running one mile. There are many bloggers and running enthusiasts that advocated that this was a great distance to building up speed and quality of running. So I thought I would give it a go! With this new running goal I cut out the 10k & 15k runs dropped to one 5km a week and concentrated on running only a mile a couple of times a week as fast as I could! Ok so running longer distances is a challenge in itself testing endurance, stamina and sheer willpower to stick in there but running a mile can push you just as much but in different ways as I’ve found out since incorporating it into my training.
This was a new challenge for me and so increased motivation, setting a personal best based on a mile meant I had to look at training slightly differently and had to look at incorporating speed work into my running schedule.
It only takes a fraction of the time so easy to fit into a training schedule. Also if you are unable to commit to a 5km or a trip to the gym this is a great option if you still want to squeeze some exercise into a busy day.
High quality; shorter length of time but higher effort levels required. Like a HIIT workout I’m able to put in maximum effort in a short amount if time.
Running a mile at full effort meant that I ran faster; running faster increases your metabolic rate which ultimate means more calories and fat are burned.
Helped with my overall fitness in other areas of my training and doesn’t have the negative impact on my body that a 10km might have.
Helps with overall quality of my running; am still able to maintain a good stride and running form.
Able to incorporate it into a visit to the gym easily; if it’s miserable outside I simply hope onto a treadmill and that’s my cardio sorted!
There are countless health benefits including improving bone density and muscle tone, strengthening your heart and respiratory system, helping to improve muscular endurance and helping to maintain your weight.
If you are struggling with the one mile challenge or wanting to build up speed then think about doing this using intervals. Try breaking down the mile into 8 sets of sprints or 4 sets of ¼ mile (approx. 400m) and aim to run at slightly less that your normal sprint speed. Doing this will ultimately increase your overall speed. Before actually the run a mile, warm up properly perhaps perform some light stretches, a fast paced sprint will help to get your heart rate up before the mile run. When training, try not to run on 2 consecutive days have a rest or cross-train. Cross-training is any exercise other than running such as cycling, walking, swimming; ideally something you enjoy doing. By doing this you will avoid muscle fatigue and lower the risk of injury.
My tips for taking the One Mile Running Challenge
Start with recording your time of your first mile; sounds obvious but you need some form of baseline to start from.
Set yourself a time to aim for but be realistic; you can always revise this target. Focus on breaking a personal record but set it at a time that’s attainable for you and ignore what others say. I initially aimed for a 9 minute mile but I got to the stage of achieving well below that so reset my target time to an 8 minute mile.
Don’t let a bad running experience demotivate you, reflect on what didn’t go to plan but if nothing obvious just move on!
Warm-up properly; make sure you include stretches pre-run and 5 minute cool down to prevent injuries.
Adopt a good running posture; look ahead, arms pumping, run tall.
Drink lots of water.
If you go to the gym incorporate free weights into your routine and concentrate on core work, glutes, ham-strings and quads. Doing this will make you a stronger more powerful runner. I intend to blog about this at a later stage.
Don’t run everyday, if you want to workout try to do other forms of exercise.
If you can invest in good running trainers; I also wear mine at the gym so they have a dual purpose for me.
Still commit to running a 5km on a regular basis; you will find that if you keep the mile training up you will notice improvements in your general running speed.
Get a playlist together; I find upbeat music helps me set a good pace as I tend to subconsciously running to the beat.
Run to maximum exertion. It’s a short amount to time so run it to the max, like a HIIT workout it will burn fat and raise your metabolism.
If you are struggling to run a mile break it up into more manageable intervals. There are plenty of training schedules on the internet you can use with Pinterest being a great source.
Yesterday, I managed to smash my 8 minute barrier. That gave me a huge buzz! My next target will probably to make sure I can run this time consistently before aiming for sub 8 minutes.
This is my one mile challenge time, now under 8 minutes! Feeling happy and motivated!
Good luck!
I’d love to hear how you get on with this challenge or if you have set yourself other running challenges.
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