As it’s a Monday, a day for starting diets, kicking off training plans, quitting stuff so I thought I’d use the opportunity to update everyone as to the old training schedule.
So, aside from putting myself on a very strict diet (more on that next week I think!), I’m doing more cardio exercise. Not that I wasn’t in the gym a lot before, but now it’s a lot more targeted, looking at boosting the muscles in my back, legs and core (you use your core more than you know when running) and getting my weight down.
To help with the cardio part of my workout, I’ve been using Techno Cardio Coach. Since injuring my foot meant a few weeks away from the gym proper it’s been hard to get back into it and get my fitness back. (I fell over and damaged the tendons on my foot. I think I’d have minded less had I been tipsy at the time, but this was my own, common garden clumsiness).
So how does it work? These are a set of MP3s that you can download to wherever suits – in my case I’ve been using them on my phone. They use the HIIT/Tabata style of coaching, using intervals of intense workout alongside slower paced sections. The first session is perhaps the easiest with 15 seconds of intense workout balanced by 1 minute of slower relaxed work.
In addition there’s an introduction, a warm up and a cool down, so it’s a full work out and it’s all in under 20 minutes.
There are four phases in total, from the easiest (15 second high intensity, 60 seconds low) to the hardest (30 seconds high intensity to 15 seconds low) and throughout you have an audio coach, as well as changes in music pattern to tell you when each section starts and to encourage you to keep going.
So, how have I found it? Actually really really good. Because it’s not fixed to any exercise you can choose what suits you. I’ve used it running, on the rower, cross trainer and on the spin bike to good effect.
I’ve even started putting them together, so workout on one machine, followed by a workout on another. Better calorie burn, and the improvement in my fitness has been excellent. My fastest rowing pace before these sessions was around 40 strokes per minute. I’m now up to 49.
My only grumble is that each section – warm up, workout and cool down come as separate MP3s and I struggled to get them set up in order on my phone. I’ve now set up separate playlists for each phase and that seems to work well.
On the positive, I’m feeling stronger and that I’m getting closer to where I was before my silly accident.
As studies have shown that Tabata style workouts are excellent for building fitness and for calorie burning I’m using it as often as possible.
So, if you happen to pop by my gym and spot me on that rower, earphones in, rowing like a mad person, now you know why. Add this into classes and PT sessions and I’m back on track.