Creating Your Own HIIT Workouts

It's no secret that I'm a HUGE fan of HIIT (high intensity interval training). I found HIIT almost eight years ago and it radically changed my health and fitness pursuits. I started with a 'paid-for' program called Fit Yummy Mummy which totally whipped me into shape and helped me to lose 50 pounds in about 4 months. Then, a few years later I went to another program by Dr. Sara Solomon, which further refined my health and fitness level, AND led me to my beloved speed roping! While I LOVED using both of these programs, I no longer follow them for my exercise routines, but create my own each month.

Over the years I have come to realize the importance of regularly changing up my workouts so that I do not plateau in my fitness journey. Every month I create two new HIIT workouts. I design two, 15 minute HIIT sequences (that I call my 'A' and 'B' workouts). I rotate these workouts every other day ~ 6 days a week ~ Monday through Saturday. I take Sundays off as a day of rest. 

To create my own workouts I utilize the following three easy steps:

1. Determine my time sequence: The bases of a HIIT exercise routine is doing a set amount of exercises as fast and as hard as you can for a set amount of time and then resting and/or setting up your next exercise. Some commonly used times would be a 30/30 (30 seconds of exercise and 30 seconds of rest) or 50/10 (50 seconds of exercise and 10 seconds of rest). I use a 50/10 split. Also I decide how long I plan to do my HIIT. Typically they are 15 to 20 minutes long. Currently I do two, 15 minute HIIT workouts, six days a week.
2. Decide my cardio: I prefer my workouts to be full body workouts and for them to include both cardio and strength training. I plan for every other exercise to be cardio. These days I'm doing speed roping for my cardio. But, some other exercises for cardio could include: high knees, bunny hops, speed skaters, jumping jacks, etc. These can easily be altered for low impact.
3. Decide my strength: I'm a huge believer in strength training for everyone! I use dumbbells, weighted balls, kettle bells, and sometimes body weight is sufficient for some exercises. As I mentioned above I rotate between cardio and strength training exercises, for my strength exercises I might do something like curls, squats, or planks, but the list could go on and on; as long as I'm using appropriate weights and intentional to continue to add weights as I get stronger. 

To help find exercises to use in my HIIT workouts, I peruse Pinterest and Instagram. There are so many folks out there sharing free exercises. I never copy them, but I gain inspiration from what they share to create my own exercise sequences. 

HIIT has changed my life in an extremely positive way. In a season of life where I am needed at home and have a very limited time to exercise, HIIT has been a life saver ~ or rather healthy mom lifesaver! I am able to get a highly effective workout completed every day, in the comfort of my own home, for relatively free, and actually see continues results. Seriously, it doesn't get better much better than that. HIIT has worked so well for me I can't imagine ever using anything else to reach my personal fitness goals.

With Love & Hope,

Jennifer

How to Exercise When You're A Busy Mom

I am extremely passionate about being healthy and helping other women achieve optimum health. Here's another post from Modern Mommy Mentor regarding how busy mamas can make exercise a daily part of their lives....

Lets face it, it's hard enough to exercise before kids, but once babies are in the picture exercising quickly gets put on the back burner! A mom's job is endless: 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. It doesn't matter if you work outside the home or not, the responsibilities of raising children is nonstop and demanding. The best way to keep up with this magnitude of responsibility is to maintain your health. Proper nutrition and daily exercise are essential to keeping YOU in the best health you can be to effectively manage your beautiful tribe.

The question remains: How does a busy mom maintain an exercise routine when she can barely manage all of her daily tasks as it is? Mothers can make every excuse in the 'book' not to exercise. Removing those excuses is the key to creating a healthy exercise routine which can carry you through motherhood and beyond. The following steps are simple yet effective ways to insure you are taking the best care of yourself through physical activity; so that you can adequately serve your family.

• Ask the Lord to help you establish a life-long exercise routine that is within your physical capabilities.
• Don't compare yourself to other women, especially fitness models who have most likely been 'airbrushed'.
• Commit to waking each morning before your children to exercise a minimum of 5 days a week.
• Choose short, yet effective workouts such as HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) combined with weighted exercise (use some dumb bells, they help to build strong bones and keep osteoporosis at bay).
• Invite an accountability partner to join along in your fitness journey. Share your victories and struggles with each other, but most importantly hold each other accountable to your daily workouts!

HIIT workouts have been my saving grace to remaining committed to a daily exercise regime. I exercise 6 days a week for 15 minutes with moderate exercise sequences which target my whole body. Through this type of exercise I have been able to lose 50 pounds and maintain the weight-loss for 6 years, and nearly 4 pregnancies. This types of short yet intense workouts are super easy to incorporate into a busy moms schedule. For more details on how I use HIIT in my busy mom life, check out this post.

One of a mom's most important assets is her health. Without a healthy body she is unable to sufficiently manage her home and serve her family.  Our families deserves the best that we can give them. When we purpose to maintain a healthy diet and remain committed to daily exercise our bodies respond with improved sleep, ample energy, positive mindset, as well as reduced sickness and injuries. I encourage you to make today the last day of excuses in regards to NOT exercising. The steps listed above are the exact ones I have used to remain faithful to my daily exercise routine for the past 6 years.  I invite you to use the same steps to make your health a priority with a personal workout program that can easily fit into your busy mom life.

With Love and Hope,
Jennifer

HIIT: A Busy Mom's Best Kept Exercise Secret

Here's another post from Modern Mommy Mentor in regards to how I strive to stay healthy....

Six years ago I was 31 years old and 50 pounds overweight. I have always exercised, mostly the latest video fad workout program or running. Yet, I could never seem to get rid of all the weight before we were pregnant again. It was a very frustrating cycle and not one I really wanted to continue repeating. I knew there had to be a better way to permanently get the baby weight off and keep it off.

Now with our debt-free, one income budget, there is no way we could afford a gym membership. My husband works long hours and I really don't like disappearing the moment he gets home to go for a long run. My only option, if I am going to exercise, is to do it at home. To make things even more complicated, we don't have the space for huge exercise equipment like treadmills or weight machines. In my desperation to once and for all lose my excess weight, I began an intense search to find a fitness program that I could affordably do from home, fit into my crazy busy life, and that would actually work!

In comes the best health and fitness program for busy moms: HIIT, which stands for high intensity interval training. After hours of research on the internet, the Lord led me to the most amazing workout program I had ever heard of. It sounded too good to be true! The proponents claimed that I could exercise 15 minutes a day, 6 days a week and rapidly lose weight. In complete desperation, and not believing this system would remotely work, I threw caution to the wind and starting doing daily HIIT workouts. And do you know what? I actually started to lose weight!!!! It was a complete miracle!

I won't over-exaggerate the truth here, I did decide to cut my sugar intake at this time. To my complete and utter disbelief, within three months I had lost 50 pounds!! Honestly, I was only exercising 15 minutes, 6 days a week and the only dietary change I made was to cut out my sugar, and I was actually losing weight. It was one of the greatest gifts I had ever been given and I made a commitment then, to do my best to share it with as many women as possible. That was nearly 7 years ago and I have never looked back. I have been able to maintain my HIIT exercises (altered slightly) throughout my pregnancies, which has enabled me to quickly lose the baby weight within just a few weeks of giving birth.

How I Make HIIT Fit into My Busy Life

• I create two monthly, 15 minute HIIT exercise sequences which include half cardio and half weighted exercises (typically with dumb bells). One Sequence focuses on upper body, while the other focuses on lower body.
• I invested in a HIIT timer which allows me to easily perform my exercises each day. You can also use an interval APP.
• Each HIIT workout sequence is divided into 15 exercises. 50 seconds of exercise as fast as I can do them, and 10 seconds of rest or set up for next exercise. I design my workouts so that I alternate 8 'cardio' (usually speed roping) exercises with 7 different weighted exercises like arm curls or squats.
• I alternate my two HIIT workouts Monday through Saturday and rest on Sundays.
• I make a point to wake up before my children each day to get my exercising done before they are underfoot and in the way. It's my time to focus on my health and keeping my body strong and healthy.

And that's it, a super easy exercise system that ALL moms can fit into their busy schedules. I mean, seriously, we all can squeeze in 15 minutes to do something for ourselves to help make us stronger and healthier, so that we can better serve our families. With HIIT there is no excuse, you can easily design your exercise sequences to fit your personal fitness levels AND you don't need expensive equipment, memberships, or huge slots of time carved out of your already busy days to exercise. A HIIT timer or app and a few dumb bells, that is all I've used for the past six and a half years to LOSE 50 POUNDS and keep the weight off for 4 subsequent pregnancies! Trust me when I say HIIT is the best kept exercise secret for all busy moms who desire to be fit and healthy! If I can make it work, so can you.

With Love & Hope,
Jennifer