Bang-for-Your-Buck Cardio

One of the quickest ways to get in fit, lose fat and supercharge for sports performance is High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). It’s also ideal for people with tight schedules and not much time to exercise.

What is HIIT?

HIIT involves mixing high intensity bursts of exercise with moderate intensity recovery periods. HIIT is all about speed—intense speed during exercise. It’s brutal but has incredible advantages and results. A HIIT workout will lose up to 9 times more fat than a similar cardio workout. It’s a technique mainly used for individuals trying to lose weight but the rate at which it can make you fitter makes it beneficial for all types of exercise.

How Does HIIT Work?

The workouts usually last 20 minutes, more or less depending on your level of fitness. The 30-second workout is the ideal place to start with HIIT. The idea is to do 30 seconds of intense cardio followed by a rest period of a set amount of time. Beginners rest for 90 seconds. If you are more fit, you can rest for 60 or 30 seconds.

Start with six intervals of intense cardio alternating with rest, and gradually work up to 12 intervals. As you become more fit, rest periods will decrease from 90 seconds to 60 and then 30 seconds.

Any type of cardio can be utilized – running, biking, stair climbing – the key is obtaining high intensity. By the end of the 30-second speed period, you must feel out of breath and unable to go any longer. You should be begging for that rest!

Do this workout ideally three to four times per week to complement your strength training. If your time is tight, twice a week is better than not at all—consistency is key. Remember to always warm up and cool down properly, along with a stretch.

Suzy Kaitman aims to make fitness fun for her clients. Always encouraging and using positive reinforcement, Suzy is the opposite of a Jillian Michaels-type drill sergeant. If you’d like an upbeat personal trainer to help you enjoy your workouts, Suzy is the one for you.

Canucks Playoffs Aftermath Inspires Corporate Fitness Challenge

The three months of hockey playoffs this year were a blast, but they also put the kibosh on the exercise efforts and diets of many Vancouverites. Rowan Smith, a group fitness and personal training client since 2007 noted, “I gained 10 pounds over the playoffs. It was back-to-back days of beer and chicken wings.” And no exercise.

With summer around the corner, Rowan didn’t want all those chicken wings to affect how he felt with his shirt off at the beach, so he created a Corporate Fitness Challenge at his office. His challenge to his coworkers: “$500 says I’ll lose more body fat than anyone else in 60 days.”

There were nine takers. Before starting, each contender had a body fat analysis completed by Precision to set the

Precision Athletics Vancouver Client of the Month- Rowan Smith

baseline (which Rowan funded), and then on June 23rd the challenge was in full swing. Some people partook in the group fitness classes, while others hooked up with a personal trainer for additional motivation and support, “Everyone was impressed by the team of trainers…they were caring and very knowledgeable.” Others, like Rowan, altered their diets with some coaching.

August 23rd was the weigh-in. Rowan found that he had lost 20% of his available body fat. However, the challenge winner ended up losing 33% of his available body fat. The third place finisher lost 18%. All impressive results for 60 days of hard work!

In the end, Rowan didn’t really lose his $500 because the winner insisted on putting the money towards a guy’s trip to San Francisco. So a happy ending for all.

What’s the next fitness goal for Rowan? “I’m going to lose 10 pounds by December 1^st” through another corporate challenge, this time funded by the owner of Rowan’s company.

Three questions for Rowan:

What motivates you? “With my lifestyle and career, I started working out to avoid being morbidly obese by age 30. Part of my family tends to be on the heavy side…and my bad diet habits don’t help. Exercising helps me maintain (a good shape).”

What do you like about working out with a trainer? “I found I preferred working out with a trainer than going a 6am Bootcamp workout in cold weather. I like that it can fit into a crazy schedule like mine.”

Your advice? “Set a regular time, stick with it and make it a priority—put it in your schedule. Also, the diet component is really big, at least 75% of the issue. Working out is great, but nothing beats the right diet.”

If you are interested in organizing a corporate challenge for your office or organization, contact Craig@precisionathletics.ca for more details.

The Last Word on Fitness by Craig Boyd

If a client asks me what the best abdominal exercise is, I invariably tell them it’s the plank exercise. This simple

Plank 'do': proper alignment

yet powerful exercise targets the entire core area – abdominals, lower back, hips – and helps you build endurance.

No matter what level of fitness you’re at, you can always make plank position a challenge. If you’re new, you can start the plank on your knees. If you have abs of steel, you can add weights to your plank and/or work towards holding the plank position for extended periods of time. On that note, does anyone know what the world record is for holding plank? It’s 33 minutes and 40 seconds, set by a 68-year-old Aussie (the previous record was held by a 50-year-old).

We’re not suggesting you work towards holding the plank position for 30 minutes, or even 15. All you need to aim for

Plank 'don't': hips too high

is two minutes. And if you are adding side plank to your routine, aim for 90 seconds per side.

A few tips to achieving plank position perfection:

• Keep your arms aligned under your shoulders
• Maintain an active scapula (don’t let your shoulders slouch)
• Keep your hips and shoulders aligned
• Pull your belly button in toward your spine

So keep working on your plank and before long you’ll notice a big difference in your posture, core strength and endurance.

Plank 'don't': hips sagging

In terms of food, Thanksgiving is known as the big feasting holiday. But over the years as portion sizes have exploded along with unhealthy recipe variations (think Candied Yams with marshmellows), a plate of Thanksgiving dinner can easily tally 3,000 calories – well over the recommended daily caloric allowance for most of us.

In order to enjoy your meal without feeling terrible afterwards, we’ve

Image credit: Flickr/jonbolden

gathered ten healthy eating tips for Thanksgiving. Jade, one of Precision’s nutrition coaches, says, “The key to healthy eating at Thanksgiving is to apply tricks to not overeat without feeling deprived. There is so much tasty food on that day (and the next) that you want to be able to enjoy them without feeling guilty—and without falling too far off your current eating plan.”

Here are ten healthy eating tips for Thanksgiving dinner:

1. Workout early that day – Try to sneak in a workout on the day of the dinner to both burn off and make room for the extra calories that night.
2. Eat normally throughout the day – Don’t skip meals to conserve calories. Eating normally will make sure you aren’t starving by dinnertime and will help avoid gorging.
3. Drink lots of water – Be well hydrated before dinner and you’ll find that you won’t eat as much at the big meal.
4. Eat slowly – Chew your food thoroughly during dinner. Put your fork down and socialize—enjoy your meal with others. This will ensure you don’t overeat, get bloated and feel gross afterwards.
5. Minimize starchy and bread-type dishes – Keep these portions small, and focus on the protein and veggie dishes.
6. Go skinless – Avoid the skin of the turkey to slash some of the fat and cholesterol. Otherwise, turkey is an excellent form of protein and has less fat than most other meats.
7. Make a conscious decision to limit certain foods – Be wary of the high-fat and high-sugar dishes, i.e. candied yams, mashed potatoes, stuffing, vegetable cheese ‘casseroles’ and pumpkin pie. If you’re the chef, experiment with some healthier ingredient substitutions such as milk for cream, or replace traditional recipes with healthier versions.
8. Break between helpings – Wait 10-15 minutes before having a second helping to give your body a chance to register how much you’ve already eaten. You might find you don’t need that extra plate and can keep some room for dessert instead.
9. Walk after dinner – Going for a walk after dinner gets blood flowing and increases digestion. A cup of peppermint tea is another soothing way to aid digestion.
10. Practise portion control – Don’t feel like you have to fill your plate because it’s Thanksgiving. Remind yourself what a ‘normal’ serving size should be. Here’s a handy size reference guide:
    • 3 oz. protein/meat = the size of deck of cards
    • baked potato/yam  = computer mouse
    • mashed potato = lightbulb
    • 1 cup veggies = baseball
    • dinner roll = hockey puck
    • 1 TBS butter = poker chip

Happy Thanksgiving eating, everyone.

On October 15, we’re kicking off a contest for fans of our Facebook page: the goal is to secure as many entries as possible. Start with a “like” of Precision Athletics’ page for one entry. Then each time you check in via your mobile phone for updates and postings by our personal trainers, you’ll receive five entries. If you write a recommendation on Facebook, you’ll secure ten entries!

After November 15, the contest end date, we’ll draw from all the entries for these great prizes:

1. One month of Precision group fitness classes twice per week PLUS a $100 Cactus Club gift certificate
2. $50 Cactus Club gift certificate

What’s not to like about that?