Day 4: Intervals!

New Year Resolutions. Regardless of how you feel about them, at some point in your life you have made one. I am willing to bet that on some December 31st during your life, you resolved to get into better shape. "This year is going to be the year;" you probably thought, "the year I lift my butt/flatten my abs/get ripped enough to beat Chuck Norris in a fight." But honestly, how many of you can actually say you succeeded? I certainly never have.

For those of you planning on succeeding this year, I bring you a first of Intervals! Lets face it, running on a treadmill is about as much fun as slamming your head into a wall but if you do not run, you are not going to get very far with your epic body transformation goals.

Intervals are a great way of breaking up the monotony and one of the fastest ways to burn fat- two great things and probably foremost on your mind if you are a gym goer. They involve running a set distance or time harder than your normal running pace, recover by resting or walking, and then repeat. 

For those of you who are completely unfamiliar, a beginners workout goes something like this:

• Run at a slow jog for about 5 minutes to warm up, get the blood flowing and let your muscles know they are about to be used
• Run hard for 3 minutes
• Walk for 2 minutes
• Repeat 4-6 times depending on how you feel (try to push yourself!)
• Cool down with a 5 minute slow jog

Now in the interest of being honest, I have done intervals before but I just found out I have been doing them all wrong. So, today was the first day I did correct intervals and let me tell you, they suck but in a really really good way. 

Pros:

1. Breaks up the monotony of running in place
2. You don't have to feel bad about taking breaks and walking!
3. Burn more fat than slow long jogs
4. Helps build up your speed 

Cons:

1. You have to run
2. You cannot really "phone it in"- these force you to push yourself (maybe this is a pro?)

Overall: I will be doing Intervals again! They hurt, are hard and not very fun. But! They make the time go by really fast and build speed up quickly; which is something I really need help with.

I hope this info helps you push through and fulfill a resolution this year!

Until tomorrow,
Cat!

P.S.
The image was taken from a fitness website found here