What kind of exercise should I do?

I don't think anyone can argue that any movement is good movement. It is so easy to fall into the trap of not incorporating any kinds of exercise in our life. After all, life is ALWAYS busy.

When I was working full time, my hours were horrible. Start at 7am? ticked. End work at 9pm and arrive home at 10pm? ticked. There are some days when I hardly say a word to my husband, not to mention going to a gym! Then you have the mundane everyday life jobs that has to be done. Cleaning, washing, ironing, doing groceries. Factor that in and no wonder most people feel that they do not have time to exercise.

I think that  is the reason why I am a big fan of Metabolic Conditioning or MetCon. I do not need to put in hours and hours to become fitter and stronger. The concept of Metcon is to deliver high intensity exercises in short amount of time. This means the body has to adapt to using up delivery of energy rather quickly. Your body then adapt itself, creating more oxygen and blood to where it is needed. That is why it is call metabolic-it increases the efficiency in converting food to fuel and making muscles work harder.

MetCon also carries concepts of Tabata and interval training.

I truly believe that is what helped me become stronger and lost weight faster post baby.

So what kind of workouts do we do?

Warm up of 5-10 minutes: Consisting of running, push ups, squats, swings, movements that loosen up the body.

10- 15 minutes of high intensity workout. Some examples are: 100 burpees but Each Minute on the Minute running 50M, Sprinting 150M before 20 goblet squats, 20 burpees, 20 push ups, 20 TRX rows, 20 sit ups..etc. Doing Thursters and burpees and many more.

Cool Down.

It means I am generally out of the gym and back home within 1 hour. Even in time to bath, feed and put baby to bed!

What other exercises do I do?

I pick and choose really. Cardio dance fitness are a great fun. They burn calories and is a great workout. However, looking back at my journey, I think it was a different kind of fit from doing cardio dance fitness. I certainly didn't feel that I was stronger (physically), but I do feel that I burned some calories and danced my silly ways to feeling good about myself. I love Konga and have dabbled into Zumba as well.

Boxing Fitness- Oh boy! I LOVE boxing fitness. It is a all total full body workout that engages the core, conditioning, strength, endurance and most of all FUN! I love different combinations and how different each drill is. Time goes quickly in every class. It looks intimidating but really, it isn't when you are doing it.

Weights- Having weights increased the intensity of any exercise. Yes, it is harder but boy your body will thank you for it. We love our heavy weights.

Kettlebells- Need I say more? Kettle bells swings is a full body total workout. It's cardio and weights in a package.

Pilates- I love a good stretch. And whoever says pilates is not a workout have not been doing it right. I have walked out from a class and feeling sore in my glutes and abs. I recommend looking for a clinical pilates instructor or at least a reputable teacher.

You will see that we do not do hours of cardio such as running on the treadmill. I have learned the hard way and find that the above combination worked best for me.

Hopefully, you will find what works for you too.

xx
Daphne