During the holidays everything seems to take a backseat to food, family and fun. The holiday season always kicks off with my birthday the week before Thanksgiving. From there, it seems to be an endless parade of turkeys, cupcakes, good wine and family fun. This holiday season was no exception. I even hosted my first “Friendsgiving”, complete with all of the unhealthy delectable dishes and goblets full of red wine…My cup runeth over. It has surely been a balancing act between splitting time with families, a trip to Europe and even my older brothers wedding. I certainly practiced my exceptional hand to mouth skills and actually made myself sick over rice crispy treats in Ohio. When was the last time you had a rice crispy treat? Those things are lethal…delectable sugar shock waiting to happen.
One thing that set this holiday season apart from many of the others is that Cory and I found time to fit in some great exercise sessions! One day, he pulled out a deck of cards face down. We decided push-ups for black cards and sit-ups or ab work for red cards. Every single time we flipped a card we performed the number of reps on the card. It was NOT easy, and we were exhausted by the end of it, but I must say, working out is always way more fun with a partner. We even got a great run on the beach in St. Thomas and ran flights of stairs at the resort dodging dinosaur sizes iguanas on the way up. The best workout of the trip had to be with the bride and her sister. We did a mix of Tabata and Barre exercises right at the waters edge, while my mom watched, happily enjoying her bran muffin and cheering us on. LOL Thanks mom!
and of course the beautiful bride and groom…
A few months ago, Cory and I finally joined our local Equinox. We are not getting any younger and felt the need to change up our sweat routines. I love counterbalancing my Barre and Pilates with HIIT otherwise known as High Intensity Interval Training to hinder me from hitting the dreaded plateau. A few weeks ago I stumbled into Tabata. I saw that it was only 45 minute high intensity class. I thought I can do anything for 45 minutes?! Right?!
Much to my surprise, Tabata turns out to be one of the most challenging workouts out there. It consists of 6-8 exercises performed in 20 second intervals with a 10 seconds of rest 8 times in a row. 20-10-8 that total to about 4 minutes per exercise. The exercises are a combination of cardio, strength and plyometric movement that target the entire body. The variety of equipment that can be used include: Dumbells, Kettlebells, Medicine Balls, Row Machines, Treadmills, Sandbags, even your own body weight. This is why Tabata has become my new favorite way to workout on-the-go. It is quick, leaves you breathless, and leaves you burning calories all day. Tabata helps increase your VO2 Max or Maximal Oxygen Consumption, makes your stronger and boosts your energy almost immediately.
There are a ton of Tabata timer apps out there. I use a free Tabata-Timer that works great!
Get started at home today! Always do a five minute warm-up of your choice. I usually put on Pitbull Pandora and dance around the room. #NerdAlert!
Here are a few examples of easy at home Tabata workouts:
1- Pushups, Squats, Rows, Situps
2-Jump Squats, Burpees, Donkey Kicks, Tricep Dips
3-High Knees, V-Sits, Mountain Climbers, Start Jumps
Oh Yes, dance Tabata does exist! Find hip hop Tabata here:
Cool Down and Stretch
There are tons of Tabata workouts on the web! We all have four minutes so let’s get movin’ and “Let Tabata Make You Hotta”.
Love and Tabata,
Taylor