Before you roll your eyes, keep reading; fitness definitely hasn’t always been a joy for me.
Growing up, my parents always encouraged being active. They loved getting us to go outside and play and just live an active lifestyle. They also encouraged my siblings and I to be involved and try out different sports. I knew I always wanted to be a cheerleader, so I did cheerleading from fourth grade all the way up until a couple of months ago, where my junior year of college cheerleading ended. I also tried out a few other sports, including softball, cross country and track and field. In high school, I focused all of my efforts on running distance in track, pole vaulting, and cheerleading.
Due to being pretty involved in sports, I was sort of forced to workout all the time. Many of my practices included core workouts, running a lot, and lifting. I liked being active because it made me feel good about myself, but the workouts got boring for me and I started to really hate it. I felt like I had been doing the same things over and over.
A New Mindset
My senior year of high school I started training for a half marathon and ended up getting quadricep tendonitis, which is basically an injury people get when they suddenly increase their physical activity by a lot. I truly don’t think my body was meant to run more than three miles at a time, so that is probably why I ended up getting injured.
This was a huge turning point for me in fitness, because for the past couple years I had been super dependent on running for staying in shape. I was advised to take two months off of running and I really didn’t know what I was going to do. Although this was hard for me to go through, what I learned completely changed my mindset towards fitness.
I started doing many different types of exercise in order to replace running. I started lifting, biking, and swimming multiple days a week. In the fall, when I started my freshman year of college, I started trying out different machines at the gym, like the elliptical, rower, and stair climber. I also took a class called circuit training with some friends which started my love for HIIT workouts and tabata.
My mindset about fitness changed completely. I used to look at running as the only way to be in shape and it kind of made me hate it. However, when I was forced to try other things, I realized the fitness world is a large one and you don’t have to be confined to one area.
I am now committed to working out 5 times a week and most weeks I do up to three to four different types of exercise. Changing it up brings excitement and the joy of fitness to me, so I encourage you to do the same!
My Love of HIIT
When the coronavirus hit (pun intended) last March, I was forced to rethink my fitness routine.
Up until I was forced to leave college and go home, I was in a committed routine. I did tabata Tuesdays with my roommate, ran once or twice, and then completed the other days with either the stair climber, bike, elliptical, or a combo of all three.
Besides running (which is my least favorite day), I was very dependent on equipment to complete my workouts. So when I got home and had three months of quarantine, I just stared at my one set of ten pound dumbbells and didn’t really know what to do.
Then I stumbled upon a true gift from God: Nike Training Club made their premium features free because of the virus.
If you are unfamiliar with NTC like I used to be, here is a short summary. Nike created an app that has all types of workouts. They have them into all different categories, including workouts by muscle group, workouts that focus on endurance, mobility, strength or yoga, and workouts that include what type of equipment you have available, including basic, full, or none. With the premium feature, you have access to all workouts, including different programs put on by the Nike master trainers.
Being at home, that app was perfect for me who had very little equipment (although I did end up buying a yoga mat!). I left every workout sweating, breathing heavy, and feeling accomplished. I was so grateful for this tool and can’t wait to apply it to my fitness routine in the future.
So far I have completed two programs: Breakthrough Challenge and Burn with Kirsty Godso. The first one was five days a week; it included one yoga workout, two HIIT workouts, and two strength workouts. The Burn program was three days a week, all HIIT workouts. I loved both of them and 10/10 recommend both.
Small side track: Kirsty Godso is an incredible trainer (here's an interview with her if you want to get to know her better). She’s really tough on you, but in a motivating way. Her program came with tips on health, nutrition, sleep and motivation, along with workouts that included a lot of burpees. After going through that program, I have actually learned to love burpees, even hot sauce burpees! I have been direct messaging Kirsty on Instagram in order to try and interview her for a future blog post, so pray that someday she sees it!
Workouts like HIIT, body-weight strength and tabata are great ways to burn calories, test your strength and endurance, and get better mobility and flexibility. I also love how you can tailor them to your schedule. Whether you have 20 minutes to workout or a whole hour, a HIIT workout is guaranteed to get your heart rate up, produce some heavy sweating, and leave you feeling accomplished.
If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me! I’d love to talk to you about NTC, HIIT workouts, or how to make fitness a joy in your life!
with my newfound love of burpees, madelyn kate
-this blog post was sponsored by the yoga mat that I ended up getting for free because Amazon refunded me after it was “lost in the mail” then arrived at my house two days later-
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