Gym Rat: Interval Training

You can classify me as a Gym-rat. Not to be confused with meat head. I do not mess with supplements, and I am not trying to bulk up like a guerrilla. 

I had such a great response to my Welcome to my Roller Coaster blog, with emails of encouragement and loads of questions asking about my workout routine & eating habits. I answered all of the emails, and after awhile I started thinking... DUH! I should be putting this on my blog! Silly me.

Thus begins a new segment here at Forever Growing

Gym Rat

I have been a Gym Rat for 2 years now. I have gone through NUMEROUS routines, plateaus and plenty of emotions to span the entire spectrum. But with all of my trials and errors I have found what works for me.

I like to sweat. High Intensity workouts are my best friend.

I like to lift weights, run, and ride bikes.

So my workouts are not frou frou, and yoga like.

To start this segment off I'll be talking about a Cardio plan that has been working for ME. I'm not trying to be a personal trainer, and I have no idea what works best for you, but I know that I love watching (stalking) other people at the gym and stealing their workout ( especially the people who are super in shape, I bet they think I am checking them out.. puhh-leasee.. haha). Plus I have seen people scope out my routine and then start doing it themselves, and this makes me feel cool =) So here you go, give it a shot! It worked for me.

This is my best friend.

The Console is high enough for me to place my Nook and read.

It has incline AND resistance.

it has little impact on my weak-wimpy ankles

And it makes doing High Intensity Interval Training easy.






High Intensity Interval Training is about mixing high intensity running bursts of exercise with moderate intensity recovery periods. It’s brutal but has incredible advantages. It’s the quickest way to get fit, and lose fat.

Here is an example of my HIIT workout

Now I have been doing this exercise for a year and have built my way up from resistance-1, incline-10, to resistance-12, max-incline. (  Ladies, a high incline does wonders on shaping your booty!) So build your way up! Don't take on too much at once, you'll end up creating an injury.

You can take the same basic formula of my Elliptical workout and apply it to treadmill

( are you shaking your head at my nerdy charts yet? I told you I was very Type A)


So there you have it. HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) It continues to burn fat for up to an hour AFTER your workout.