The quickest workouts for the busiest weeks
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This post is sponsored by Chiquita. Chiquita is partnering with the American Cancer Society in the fight against Breast Cancer. Check out their October Breast Cancer Awareness initiative here. It’s a cause that’s near to my heart, and I love that they’re spreading the message of the benefits of a healthy lifestyle.
This month, I’m proud to be partnering with Chiquita to help encourage action from millions of consumers in the fight against breast cancer. Through October, more than 200 million Chiquita bananas will feature pink stickers for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The pink stickers are intended to serve as a reminder about the importance of eating healthy, donating, signing up for a Making Strides Against Breast Cancer® walk, or getting recommended screenings. Chiquita supports the American Cancer Society’s (ACS) mission to save lives. According to the ACS, adopting a physical, active lifestyle and consuming a healthy diet, with an emphasis on plant foods, can help reduce the risk of cancer.
As the days get shorter (and hopefully a little colder around here?) I feel like our schedules get more and more packed. There are holiday celebrations, school functions, extracurricular activities for the girls, parties, festivals, birthdays (all of our birthdays are in the next few months!), etc. While everything is SO much fun, it can make it a bit more challenging to stick to our usual active, healthy lifestyles. That’s why for today’s post, I thought I’d share some of my favorite healthy living hacks for when your routine is a bit busier than usual so you can ensure you’re adopting the active lifestyle that the ACS recommends.
If you can’t hit the gym for a full workout, split it up into mini segments at home.
I’m a huge believer in splitting up workout sessions if you don’t have time for a class or full workout. 10 minutes here and there can really add up, especially if you’re pushing yourself. When you work out at a moderate to vigorous level, your metabolism is elevated. If you work out 3 times during the day (even if it’s only 10 minutes in each session!) you also get 3 EPOC, or Excess Post-exercise Oxygen Consumption, sessions. Consider it a bonus instead of a fail if you end up needing to split up your workout time. I like 10 minutes of HIIT intervals, 10 minutes of strength, and 10 minutes of yoga, core or stretching.
No time for a full meditation session? Set a timer for 5 minutes, find a quiet spot, and breathe.
I use the Breathe app on my watch, even though it conveniently tells me to breathe when I’m trying to get the girls to get ready for school or to stop doing gymnastics at bedtime. (It’s like it really knows when I’m stressed!) No matter what I’m doing, I start the Breathe app when it notifies me. It only takes 60 seconds to breathe and come back to earth and I always feel better afterwards. If I can, I’ll set a timer for 5 minutes, find a quiet spot (ha!), and use the time to focus on my breath while thinking of my favorite mantra. Set a timer as a reminder to hydrate. Whenever I get super busy or we have a lot going on, it’s really easy for me to forget my big water bottle at home and forget to hydrate. Seeing “drink up, buttercup” on my phone screen reminds me to get in some H2O.
When you don’t have time to do a full meal prep, plan and prepare something for the following day.
I haven’t been able to do full meal preps in a while, but instead, I just try to take some time each night to pack the girls’ lunches and figure out my own snacks and breakfast for the next day. I’m a huge fan of making breakfast the night before because it makes mornings a thousand times less hectic. Chiquita bananas are a great on the go snack or breakfast, that does not require any preparation.
We can’t control every factor that could lead to disease or illness in our bodies, but it’s important to focus on the things we can control like exercising, eating nutritious foods, sleeping well, managing stress, limiting alcohol consumption, and hydrating. Even when we don’t have as much time as usual or that we’d like, there are still tiny steps we can take each day for our health that have a cumulative effect. Along those lines, the American Cancer Society recommends at least 150 minutes of moderate (or 75 minutes of vigorous) intensity activity a week along with a diet consisting of at least 2 ½ cups of vegetables and fruits per day. Little burst of exercise here and there throughout the week is a great way to make a couple hours of activity fly by.
Make sure you’re keeping an eye out for the pink stickers on your Chiquita bananas throughout October and look for some healthy recipes that meet the American Cancer Society’s nutritional guidelines on Chiquita.com!
What’s a small step you take each day for your health, even when things are more busy than usual?
xo
Gina
The post Healthy tips when life is busy appeared first on The Fitnessista.
Hi friends! I’m SO excited for this week’s podcast episode. If you haven’t listened to any of the episodes yet, please start with this one. Dr. Len Kravitz is someone who has taught me so much about HIIT training and fitness. He’s an incredible teacher and someone that I greatly admire. It was such an honor to have him on the show today. I first took one of his courses at a fitness conference when Liv was a baby, and he’s the one who inspired me to learn as much as possible about HIIT, which led me to write a book all about the subject.
High Intensity Interval Training aka HIIT is a buzzword in the fitness community, but it’s been around much longer than you may think. The benefits of HIIT are astounding, but the true magic is the efficiency of the workout: it’s a training method that can make you stronger, fitter, faster, and make your heart healthier, in a shorter amount of time. With this popularity of HIIT, there’s also some confusion about the method. How often should you do HIIT? Should you do strength or cardio first? Why does HIIT work so well? Exercise Scientist Dr. Len Kravitz is here to answer all of these questions.
In this episode, you’ll discover:
– The history and science of High Intensity Interval Training. Where did it originate and how does it work so well?
– How often you should use HIIT in your routine
– How to accommodate HIIT workouts for joint considerations
– Can HIIT cause turbulent blood flow?
– Dr. Len’s top three tips for a healthy lifestyle
Dr. Len Kravitz has thirty-six years of experience as a researcher, writer, and speaker on exercise science and fitness education. He is the coordinator of the Exercise Science program at the University of New Mexico and an associate professor in its Department of Health, Exercise and Sports Sciences, a position that earned him an Outstanding Teacher of the Year award. Dr. Kravitz has a master’s degree in physical education and a PhD with an emphasis in exercise science and health promotion. He is the author of Anybody’s Guide to Total Fitness, now in its eleventh edition with nearly one hundred thousand copies sold, and Essentials of Eccentric Training, and has published more than three hundred peer-reviewed articles in health and fitness publications. Dr. Kravitz regularly travels as a speaker on physical fitness and has presented at more than one thousand fitness and exercise science conferences around the world. He is the recipient of a wide variety of honors in the fitness industry, including an induction into the National Fitness Hall of Fame. Dr. Kravitz lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Dr. Len has a new book out and it is AMAZING. It’s packed with so many research-backed HIIT methods, tips for weight management and healthy living, and workouts. I love the fact that it’s not incredibly long. It’s straight to the point and you will get exactly the information you’re looking for. He kindly offered an extra copy of the book to give away, so I’d like to do it through the comments section here.
One lucky winner will receive a copy of HIIT Your Limit + a Fabletics outfit of their choice
All you have to do is comment below with your favorite HIIT exercise (sprinting, running, rowing, jump lunges, burpees, etc)
For an extra entry, subscribe to the podcast (iTunes, Stitcher, or Google Play) and leave an extra comment to let me know
For an extra entry, leave a rating or review for the podcast and leave an extra comment with a 
Even if you don’t win, I highly recommend preordering a copy of HIIT Your Limit here!
Thank you so much for listening!
xoxo
Gina
The post 020: HIIT Master Class with Dr. Len Kravitz (+ HIIT Your Limit giveaway) appeared first on The Fitnessista.
This is a full cardio workout you can do on the treadmill, elliptical, or spin bike. Easily modify to suit how you’re feeling. Just press “play” and go.
Hey hey! How’s the morning going? I hope you’re having a great day. It’s a busy week over here: I’m teaching a couple of classes, have some meetings scheduled today + podcast interviews, and getting ready to celebrate P’s 3rd birthday.
Today, I’m sharing one of my favorite types of workouts: musical cardio! While I love taking classes (or following a Fit Guide workout) for cardio, sometimes it’s refreshing to just hop on the treadmill or spin bike, press “play” on my playlist, and let the music dictate what happens. I’ll usually do heavy resistance climbs for slower driving tracks, steady state for upbeat top 40s music, and sprints for anything with a bumpin’ chorus.
While I’m not teaching consistent classes right now – still trying to figure out my fitness life – I’m still frequently updating my playlists for the different classes I’ve been subbing. This month, I’m teaching TRX, Spin, and a HIIT/bootcamp class. I thought I’d share my favorite workout songs for fall 2018 + a musical cardio workout to go with them!
Cardio ideas for each track:
“Goodbye” (featuring Nicki Minaj and Willy William): Warmup. Start with a moderate pace and resistance and focus on taking deep breaths and getting focused for an awesome workout (RPE 5)
“DJ Play That Beat” Joachim Garraud: Steady climb. Find a challenging resistance and hold it here for the entire song, maintaining the same quick tempo. (RPE 6)
“MIC Drop (feat. Designer) [Steve Aoiki Mix] BTS, Designer, Steve Aoki: Tempo. Lower the resistance and find a speed that feels uncomfortable, but is not a sprint. Hold it here for the entire song.
“I Wanna Dance with Somebody” Fall Out Boy: Sprint. For this song, keep a slower pace with lower resistance for the verses. For the chorus, crank up the speed and SPRINT as fast as you can (RPE 8-9). Recover during each verse.
“I Like It” (Dillon Francis Remix) Cardi B, Bad Bunny, J Balvin, Dillon Francis: Rolling hills. For 1 minute, keep the pace and resistance moderate, for 1 minute increase the resistance (RPE 7-8) and keep the same pace. For the next minute, decrease the resistance and bring up the speed. Repeat until the song is over.
“Natural” Imagine Dragons: Heavy climb. Slow your pace to moderate. Every 30 seconds, add resistance until you hit your max (RPE 9). Hold it here for the rest of the song.
“This is America” – Workout Remix: Tempo. Start at a moderate resistance and pace (RPE 5). Every minute, INCREASE your speed and hold it here. By the end of the song, you should be close to a sprint.
“Thundeclouds” with Sia, Diplo and Labyrinth: Heavy climb. Start the song at a moderate resistance and speed. Hold it here, and during each chorus, crank up the resistance. Each chorus, make the resistance heavier than last time.
“Satisfied” (feat. MAX) Galantis, MAX: Steady state. Find a moderate-quick pace with lower resistance and hold it here for the entire song. Try to avoid slowing down if you can.
“Ocean” (feat. Khalid) Martin Garrix, Khalid: Last climb! Every 20 seconds, crank up the resistance until you hit your max. Hold it here for 30 seconds, lower back to your base point and repeat.
“Happier” Marshmello, Bastille: Recover. Use this song as a recovery song to slow your pace, catch your breath, and gather up some energy for the last track. Don’t let yourself slip into cool down mode just yet; stay in the working zone (at least 70% of your max heart rate).
“Electricity” (with Dua Lipa): Sprint. Start at a moderate pace and resistance. Hold it here until 50 seconds and start your sprint, as fast as you can. At 1:12, take your recovery. Walk and breathe. Next sprint is with the chorus (you’ll hear the beat start to drop at 2:00!) and try to beat your last sprint pace. For your last sprint, start to gradually pick up your pace at 2:45 and sprint for the remainder of the song.
“Shame” Elle King: Cool down and stretch!
Do you do musical cardio for your workouts? What’s your favorite song on your playlist right now?
xoxo
Gina
More workouts with playlists here, here, here, here and here.
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and I'm taking you along!
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