HIIT Training & The New Spartan 30-Day Challenge

Happy Monday all!

Okay, fine, I’m pretty sure not everyone is super excited to go back to work after 2 weeks of holidays or short work weeks. But hey, we gotta stay POSITIVE!

I had a wonderful weekend. The definite highlight of it was a 10 km run on Sunday, my first run this year! After running, I feel re-energized, inspired and relaxed. Oh, and let’s not forget about the runner’s high! LOVE IT, LOVE IT, LOVE IT! What about you?

In addition, I started using dailymile to track and share my workouts. It is a pretty awesome tool because there is a big community of active people behind it, who support each other, inspire and get inspired, not to mention that it’s absolutely free. I also love that it shows how many donuts you’ve burnt. I mean, how AWESOME is that?! If you decide to join or have already joined this community, make sure to add me (just click on the link above or on the right panel of my blog), so that we can motivate each other!

I was also super excited and pumped for the new Spartan Challenge: 1 Mile a Day for 30 Days. I know, it’s super easy, all you have to do is walk/run 1 mile every day for 30 days; however, the main purpose is ‘ to get everybody off the couch and living like Spartans with small daily challenges’ or, in other words, to stay active and consistent . You can join the movement here.

On a side note, the Spartan Race has got a very talented design team. I LOVE their pictures! They are so simple and creative: I get blown away every single morning when I receive their WOD (Workout of the Day) & FOD (Food of the Day) emails.

While training for the Spartan Race, I realized the importance of HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training). It takes fitness to the next level while not sacrificing any extra time at the gym. It is super easy to incorporate in your daily workout:

If you are going for a run, every so often start sprinting as fast as you can, then jog for a minute, then sprint again, and so forth.
What you could also do is run a mile then do some high-intensity exercises such as burpees, push-ups, squat jumps or mountain climbers (as many reps as you can in a minute each), then repeat: run and do exercises as many times as your fitness level allows.

It’s definitely tough, but it’s worth it! You’ll see results very quickly ,BUT you’ve got to be CONSISTENT.

Here are some of the benefits of HIIT training.

Finally, I came across the following video. It is super inspirational. I thought I’d share it with you today to start the week off on the right foot: full of energy and confidence in your abilities.