Hello hello hello! So today it's a fitness post from me (yay let's kick those bootays haha) because Summer is well in swing and nothing motivates me more than fresh Summer air and that amazing after-workout feeling. My motivation comes and goes but over the past few weeks I've just been forcing myself to work out, it isn't a choice, I have to do it and you know what? I never ever regret it. I'm trying to get myself into that mindset and make working out every day part of my routine rather than a chore. I have really mixed up how I've been working out over the past 12 weeks and I really wanted to share it with you/talk about my progress because I am loving it and really seeing results. I used to go to the gym and do a 30 minute steady run and then a few light weights then leave, I've completely mixed that up now and I feel stronger, happier but mainly just so much more confident. I'm really excited to talk to you about my progress/what I do to work out now!
Before I begin, I just want to say I am not a personal trainer/fitness professional, this is just what I do and it works for me - it might not work for you but I wanted to share it anyway as I am asked on a daily basis what I do at the gym/what exercises I do so hopefully it can give you some insight!
Start; I always do interval training as the main part of my workout, it's intense and it's hard but it's worth it. Steady state training (e.g., going on a treadmill at a steady pace for half an hour or going on a steady run outside) is still a good way to burn fat but I prefer to get it over and done with really intensely which is why I choose to do interval training - you can have a look on Google for more information but there are loads of studies which show that it burns fat much faster and it continues to burn fat for longer once you've finished exercising too. Basically, interval training or HIIT (high intensity interval training) is your best friend.
- I put my treadmill on an incline (usually 5.5/6) and then start running at 12km speed (after a little warm up), I run for 1 minute and then have a 30 second rest (I put the treadmill down to a lower speed for the 30 seconds, sip some water then get ready to go again), I continue this for at least 20 minutes and generally I can get up to 17km speed. I try to put the speed up every minute as well so for example, minute 1 would be a minute of me running at 12km, then a 30 second rest and then at 1 minute 30 I would put up the speed to 12.5km and so on. I always use the distance as my goal and make sure I run a longer distance in a quicker time each time, I started off running about 3k and now I try to run 5k in intervals. Again, this is all personal to me but I tend to monitor my own progress on my phone, I just take a note of how fast/far I ran at the end of each session.
Interval training is difficult, it's intense but it's worth it. I feel like the pain is worse but it's over so much quicker with intervals, 15-20 minutes and you're done and feeling on fire, it's like you can feel your metabolism fired up and ready to burn! Depending on how hard I've worked, I usually move over to the cross-trainer or stepper afterwards to do some steady cardio (usually just quite a nice medium level), I try to do 10-20 minutes of this depending on how much time I've got. If I don't have much time I'll end with a rapid 2 minute skip or a 2 minute cycle just to blast off any other energy I have (I hate leaving the gym and not feeling like I've done enough).
Middle of the week; I try to add in a spinning class or a yoga class at least once a week too but usually twice. I am obsessed with yoga and pilates (I blame Canada because I did hot yoga every day when I lived there) - unfortunately I cannot find any good hot yoga classes in the North of England so instead I've just been doing normal yoga. I always thought yoga wouldn't be intense enough for me but honestly, it really is great for stretching and toning. Spinning is a great all body workout, it's basically interval training but on a bike, it hurts so much but I personally add it into my fitness routine as an instructor leads it and it means I don't have to think at all throughout the session, I just switch off and move my legs when he says haha.
After Intervals; I move to the weight area and usually do around half an hour here or at least a solid 15 minutes. My iphone is my best friend here because I just put my timer on and make sure I do at least 5-8 solid minutes on abs to begin with (you can see some of my favourite moves below on the video but I think I might film a quick little separate ab video too to show you exactly what moves I do). I basically do a minute of crunches, a minute of bicycle abs, a minute planking whilst resting my arms on a moving ball and a minute of leg up abs. I then move onto working on the bum and legs, I do squat jumps, weighted squats and then pelvis thrusts whilst squeezing my bum with a weight on my pelvis (it sounds complicated but it isn't). I'd say I do all of this for at least a solid 15 minutes all together.
Circuits; I do try to incorporate the moves below into every workout session after my HIIT training (you can watch them on the video so that you can learn how to do the moves easily). If I only have a quick 15 minutes, I do these circuits below just by themselves but if I have more time, I do this after my treadmill work, or at least try fit in some of these moves. The moves below are moves myself and adidas came up with together (read about what me and adidas have been up to here if you missed that), they're my favourite moves for a quick, painful, full-body burning work out without the need for anything apart from yourself and a bit of space. Basically, these moves burn, you'll hate me for them but they're so worth it. I spent years just doing cardio and never saw much tone in my body, ever since adding in squats etc, I am so much happier with my body shape. I love the moves below because you can do them in your bedroom (space permitting), in the garden or I tend to do it with my music on full blast in my conservatory if I can't get to the gym. You can watch the video below to see exactly what I've been doing but I gave you a little sneak peek as it's the exact circuit training session that I led for with Elle Magazine (read about that here if you missed it).
I tend to do each move below for 1 minute, that will take you up to about 12 minutes - see if you can try do it twice through! Honestly, just stand in your garden and do the below - I promise you'll feel the burn - who needs a gym membership?! (Pretty please click here and subscribe to my YouTube channel too! I will love you forever)
So how do I personally feel after a good 12 weeks of introducing proper interval training and my circuits into my workouts? I honestly have never felt better, I feel confident, happy and I am so happy that I was able to work with one of the worlds best fitness brands, adidas on this. I have truly caught the fitness bug now and as mentioned at the start of this post, it really is a lifestyle choice - I am making it my mission to fit exercise into my every day routine, whether that's a walk or a full on gym sesh or a quick 15 minute wake up call doing my moves. I feel so good when I've exercised and I will be continuing to do this for the foreseeable future! I cannot wait to keep sharing my progress with you!
If you missed out on all my workouts/updates/behind the scenes shooting with adidas, you can read them here!
What do you like to do at the gym? What do you find works for you? Have you tried any of the above?
Lots of love, Em x
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