Tabata Sandwich Workout

Hey guys!

Its Monday morning again, and for most it is the worst day of the week. Think I may be the only person who really enjoys Mondays. Don't get me wrong I love everything about the weekend, going out, meeting friends and generally just being really chilled. But for me there is something really nice about getting back into my weekly routine. And one of the most important parts to my routine is working out. I didn't realise how much I relied on it until a while back when I had to take time off with uni work and being ill, and from it my week felt messed up and I didn't feel normal or content. It gives me so much more energy and I feel more confident about myself after I have worked out. So this is exactly why I love Mondays and my wee weekly routine, (pretty sure you would think I was and pensioner loving having a routine, I'm such a loser!) for me it is one of the best feelings ever!

Anyways, so I have decided to share with you my current favourite workout. I do this in my house when I have an hour to spare in the afternoon after work and I can go at it hard and feel amazing/exhausted after. Again this workout is based on the High intensity Interval Training principal (HIIT), where doing short bursts of intense exercise are thought to be more efficient and effective than prolonged steady exercise. So I have made a Tabata Sandwich which includes 30mins of cardio and a 15minute abs and legs Tabata in the middle. For anyone who doesn't know what Tabata is, it involves high intensity exercise for 20-30 seconds with a 10 second rest in between, so you heart rate is high and the exercise is quick paced.

The perfect wham-bam-thank-you-mam work out for the girl who has all the time but forgets to manage it well....

I have included a brief description of the exercise and what I do below, hope you guys like it and feel pumped and super good about yourselves after :)

Lou <3

 P.S.

Online there are good Tabata timers which tell you when to workout and when to rest I would definitely recommend googling one of them, they are so so handy and always keep me right when I'm working out.

Cardio

For the cardio I normally do it on my cross trainer as I am fortunate enough to have one in my house, but you can run using the same principal or do it in the gym either works just as well. When I am  doing the 15 minutes of cardio I normally do 30 seconds of all out effort and then 1 minute of active recovery - so I keep a steady speed but keep my work level to about 50%. This is repeated for the whole 15minutes.

Tabata

For this Tabata my chosen exercises where predominantly leg and abs based because this is what I wanted to work on, but you can chose different exercises for the body parts you want to work on. And make sure you chose a work out time which suits you, so if you are trying to get fit and active again you could chose a short length of time to do your Tabata for, it's all about personalising your work out to you.

Wide leg and close leg squat- jump forward into a wide leg squat, jump back into a normal standing position and then jump forward into a close leg squat- repeat for 30 seconds

Plank- standard plank position and hold for 30 seconds.

Shoulder taps- In the press up position lift one arm at a time and touch the opposite shoulder ensuring your body engaged and your bum doesn't lift too high or drop down low, repeat continuously for 30seconds.

Side plank- balance on your right arm with your body facing out to the left, raise your left arm to the sky and hold for 15 seconds, then swap over to the other side.

Sumo squat- normal squat, except after you squat bring one leg up like you are a sumo wrestler and then squat again. Repeat alternating legs on the sumo lifts.

Walk the dog- Starting standing up, place your hands on the floor directly in front of you, walk forward with your hands until you are in the press up position, do a press up and walk your hands back until you are standing up again. Repeat continuously.

Ab cycling- in the sit up position, lift your legs off the floor slightly, bring one leg up towards your tummy and at the same time raise your shoulders to meet it, lower both simultaneously and repeat with the other leg.