FINALLY!!!!

A beach day happened.

WOO HOOOOO!!! About time!!

While I was perched on my blanket soaking up some much needed Vitamin D, in the form of copious amounts of Sunshine, I got to thinking about how great swimming is for exercise.

And even more specifically how you can turn what might otherwise be a boring, monotonous stroke into a fun round of interval training.

Interval Training? While Swimming?

How, when you can’t time yourself and know when to go fast and go slow?

I figured out a great way to make it work, even without that waterproof watch (that you probably wouldn’t be able to hear the beeps on anyway).

Here’s how:

So get out there and have some rippin’ fun in that ocean or lake!

And get your Interval Training in while you’re at it!

Oh, and by the way… after I shot this video a huge bank of clouds rolled in and the wind picked up which all cut our beach day short by at least 2 hours … !!

Sigh.

It’s coming for REAL eventually … right?

I hope you guys are having a warmer, sunnier Summer than I’m having.

But in the meantime…

Have a fit, fun and fantastic day.
Girlwithnoname

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Doing a little round of Interval Training earlier today got me to thinking…

Are you comparing apples to APPLES when you’re tracking your progress from workout to workout?

How do you know for SURE?

There was a time that I THOUGHT I was comparing identical workouts … but getting all sorts of crazy results.

… and, as it turns out, now that I have the RIGHT tool in my hand to keep me on track, I can see clearly that what I was doing back then was comparing apples to ORANGES.

If you really want to track your progress and compare your workouts to each other PROPERLY, you NEED the right tools to make sure you stay on track.

See what I’m saying:

See what I’m SAYING??

Get a GymBoss Timer and don’t compare apples to oranges anymore. Make sure you’ve got the right tracking tools so you KNOW whether or not you’re progressing… and not just stagnating in a different way.

They’re SUPER cheap and they mail it right to you within days (convenient, eh?).

And the best part about a GymBoss Timer specifically is it has an EXTREMELY EFFECTIVE super loud beep and super strong vibe. You’ll KNOW when it’s trying to tell you something:

Get Your GymBoss Timer Here

(psssst, you’ll also need a good timer for the “Hot at Home” System, which I’m releasing EXCLUSIVELY at a ‘special deal’ to my Inner Sanctum and Early Birds’ List very soon… get on the Early Birds’ list here if you don’t want to be in my Inner Sanctum: Get “Hot at Home” First!)

Have a fit, fun and fantastic day.
Girlwithnoname

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On my foray into that commercial gym last week (have you seen this: RANT: Why Are Some People Such IDIOTS In The Gym?) I saw something else that made me stop and scratch my head in bewilderment.

Listen, I know that some cardio is boring.

But so boring that you must read a magazine in the process? And therefore, let your workout suffer?

Can you really get your upper body working hard if you’re reading a magazine?

Um. No. You can’t.

So why is this gym now SUPPLYING magazines for it’s members to read on the cardio equipment?

And why are people still doing cardio they find THAT boring, when there are SO MANY other options available?

Keep your mind on your game.

If you’re so bored you have to resort to reading magazines, it’s time to change it up and go do something more interesting.

Things that spring immediately to mind include: HIIT (interval training), Weight Training SuperCircuits*, swimming, team sports like soccer …

… heck, even playing with the dog is fun and interesting, and if you’re doing lots of running and chasing games you’re definitely getting a good cardio workout.

So, don’t tune out in the pages of some time-wasting gossip magazine.

Get the MOST out of your workout by keeping your head AND your upper body in the game.

You’re there anyway, right? You may as well get as much out of it as possible!!

*At a loss when it comes to those Weight Training SuperCircuits I mentioned?

Craig Ballantyne has everything you’re looking for in his Turbulence Training Fat Burning Circuits Manual.

It has great and effective Weight Training Circuit Routines especially designed to burn fat that will get your heart racing and your blood pumping, and keep you motivated and interested for a long time to come.

Take a look at it here ==> Fat Burning Circuits

Have a fit, fun and fantastic day.
Girlwithnoname

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Well, it’s Winter. It’s really, really Winter. Blech.

I don’t love Winter. Can you tell?

But I still gotta get my runs in.

That seawall beckons me even in the cold and rain and slush.

But Winter means short days. Which means long nights. Which means its dark out there in the evenings.

Not so safe for a long solo run.

Depending on where and how you’re doing that long solo run, that is.

Hey, just because it’s dark and scary out there doesn’t mean you don’t still have lots of options to get a good workout in AND stay safe.

Are YOU being strategic about keeping yourself safe during your dark night time runs?

So, get creative! There’s lots of ways to get ‘er done …

Just make sure you STAY SAFE out there.

But don’t use “lack of safety” as an excuse to skip it. Not with all those awesome options available!

Besides, making excuses just isn’t how we roll, is it?

Hey, btw, do you need a good timer for all those intervals and long runs?

Of course you do!

We should all time ourselves. Otherwise, how do you know if you’re progressing?

I recommend this timer:

The GymBoss Timer is AWESOME for being conveniently teensy and has a LOUD beep and/or a STRONG vibe function…

… hey, that vibe is what sold me, I hate looking at my watch over and over and over again, so feeling that vibe tell me it’s time to change my pace is absolutely INVALUABLE!

And it’s great for timing those long endurance runs too. Break your own records, and KNOW IT when you do!

GymBoss Timers Kick Ass!

==> So, Get Your Own GymBoss Interval Timer Here!!!

Have a fit, fun and fantastic day.
Girlwithnoname

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I LOVE me some hard Interval Training Sessions.

Interval training is a great way to up the ante on your cardio routines.

But what happens when even your interval training is getting stale? Is that possible? Intervals can be quite intense anyway, but sure, it’s definitely possible to get bored even of HIIT (“high intensity interval training”).

So, how do you crank up your intervals? Or at least get some interval training in that doesn’t feel like the ‘same old, same old’?

Intervals don’t have to be limited to just running but if running is your sport of choice, you can incorporate different kinds of intervals into your training.

Try finding a big hill and doing hillsprints, or finding a sandy beach and doing your sprint training in the unstable sand or better yet, hop into the ocean knee deep and add even more resistance by adding water and maybe even waves.

Or you can find a big field and sprint to one end and do a slow jog back to the other side (and repeat ad nauseum).

BUT, if you’re looking to liven it up with different kinds of intervals besides running, then there’s also lots you can do.

Intervals can be done with almost every kind of cardio exercise imaginable.

Hop on your mountain bike and find a good hilly trail to cycle.

Hills add intervals to your training naturally. Every up hill is your work interval and every trip down is your rest interval. You don’t even have to time it. Just keep finding hills and giving it your all on every trip up.

I have a little trick when I’m short on time and need a quick interval workout without leaving home.

Luckily I live in a high-rise building in the city with a huge stairwell, so I head to the bottom of the stairwell and climb 20 storeys as my work interval, until I hit the top.

Then I punch the elevator button and take a quick ride to the bottom as my rest interval and hit that stairwell again for another work interval climbing to the top.

Eight times doing this takes me 45 minutes and it’s a heck of a great workout. It works my glutes, hip flexors, quads, hamstrings, and calves thoroughly and gives my cardiovascular system a major boost in the process.

Another cool alternative for Interval Training is to SWIM it out! Yes, you can do interval training swimming too. And, believe it or not, there’s lots of ways to ‘time’ your intervals when you’re underwater.

A cool gadget that’s available now is an underwater mp3 player especially for water sports like swimming.

You can either load in a timed interval mp3 and use that to time your swim intervals or just pick a few songs that have a definite ‘chorus’ and ‘non-chorus’ parts to the songs and swim hard for the chorus and swim easy for the non-chorus parts.

Or, if you don’t have the budget for a swimming mp3 player, just time your intervals by counting your strokes.

Swim hard for 50 strokes and easy for 50 strokes. Or change your strokes. Swim hard for 50 meters of front crawl and 50 meters of breast stroke at a slower pace.

This is easier to accomplish in a swimming pool where you hit the wall and turn around for the next 50 meters (for example). If you’re in a lake or ocean you might try swimming from buoy to buoy.

Another great and extremely easy way to do intervals that you can also do pretty much anywhere is to make sure you’ve got a jump rope with you and just start jumping.

Jump at regular pace for your rest interval and double pace for your work interval. Count turns of the rope to time it out. 100 fast jumps for the work interval, 50 slow jumps for rest interval.

There ya go… Intervals options to keep you interested and motivated with your interval training for weeks to come.

Enjoy the benefits you’re sure to see from all your hard work. And don’t forget to have fun.

Oh, and btw, if you’re into intervals like I am, you for SURE need a good timer, right? I got my little GymBoss Interval Timer here: Get GymBoss.

This timer is AWESOME for being conveniently teensy and has a LOUD beep and/or a STRONG vibe function (that’s what sold me, I hate looking at my watch over and over and over again, so feeling that vibe tell me it’s time to change my pace is absolutely INVALUABLE)!

Get Your Own GymBoss Interval Timer Here!!!

Have a fit, fun and fantastic day.
Girlwithnoname

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Sleep! I need some badly!

I’m experiencing the effects of Sleep Deprivation today.

Too much coffee too late in the day yesterday = not getting to sleep until past 4am last night.

I’m floating through this day on 4 hours of sleep …

It was supposed to be an “Interval Training” day today.

Yah, I went anyway.

Even though I felt ‘okay’ as I left for the running path, my workout suffered … pretty badly.

Funny, I thought that the workout would wake me up. And it did. But that didn’t help me get a good workout in …

Getting enough sleep is a pretty important part of getting a good workout.

As much as I thought I could power through it anyway (and I did power through it), my workout wasn’t as good as it could have been… by a significant amount.

Rats.

But, even though I was more or less brain-dead during my Intervals today, one of my favourite fitness tools helped me get it done right without any thinking, calculating or watching the clock.

GymBoss makes a kick-ass interval timer, with a STRONG vibe function. So I just set it and did what it told me to do.

Good thing I had it or I probably would have been a lot messier trying to keep my intervals timed properly.

Grab yourself one here ==> Get a GymBoss Interval Timer

Have a fit, fun and fantastic day.
Girlwithnoname

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It’s been one helluva day so I’m just popping in for a quick catch up today.

But let’s just say I spent my run today doing a bunch of swearing under my breath at the Vancouver Parks Board.

I mean DANG IT ANYWAY, PARKS BOARD GUYS!!

Do ya really gotta mess with my perfect cardio programs like this?

REALLY?

*sob*

Well, at least they’re gonna force me out of my comfort zone. That’s never a bad thing.

This is what I’m talking about:

That’s pretty much it. Thanks for letting me vent. I’ll get over it eventually (and I’ll get over it for sure once the seawall is fixed and accessible again … lol )!!

In the meantime, let’s liven this party up …

It’s been a while since I’ve done a Workout Song of the Day …

… and this one is very apropos since it’s an AWESOME song for running and also because I now feel like MY world is ending without my beloved seawall to kick it on!

Enjoy!

Information Society – Ending World 1.1

Hey, if you love it like I do and want to add it to your workout collection a quick click on the ‘buy’ button on the player widget above will get you set up in no time.

Have a fit, fun and fantastic day.
Girlwithnoname

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Fartlek.

I KNOW, I KNOW!!

It sounds like a dirty word, doesn’t it? LOL

Well, I hate to ruin your fun, but it’s actually a Swedish word that means “Speed Play“. And it’s an effective way of increasing your running speed or improving your endurance.

Fartlek is a form of interval training but with some differences.

The basic concept of interval training is to do short bursts of fast running alternating with slower bouts of mild jogging or “recovery” intervals. The thing that makes Fartlek different than conventional interval training is that there is no set format for times or distances of the intervals, it is completely unstructured.

Another difference is that Fartlek is intended for road, path or trail “distance” running (as opposed to going back and forth over the same part of a path over and over, as is the case in most forms of interval training).

Fartlek training is a great way to increase both your aerobic and anaerobic capabilities as well as your lactic thresholds. And, it’s a very flexible way of incorporating interval training into distance running.

However, Fartlek is mostly intended for advanced runners.

In Fartlek training, the runner increases or decreases their running speed for short amounts of time. However, determining when they should increase or decrease speeds is decided solely by the runner themselves, in the moment.

This allows the runner to be more in touch with their own feelings and responses to the harder intervals and decide for themselves when it is time to take a slower interval. The runner is also in charge of when they’ve had enough ‘recovery’ and should start a harder, fast run interval again.

Fartlek is intended mostly for advanced runners because as mentioned, there is no set format to follow so this requires total honesty and committment by the runner to ensure they’re actually getting a hard workout.

There’s no timer telling the runner to go fast or slow … no coach or specified distance that determines the speed changes, only the runner determines it for themselves as they go.

Another interesting thing about Fartlek is that it allows for more experimentation than traditional timed intervals. The runner can change their pace whenever they feel like it, which allows for much more freedom with trying intervals of varying lengths and speeds.

But just because Fartlek is designed for advanced runners doesn’t mean that the average runner can’t take advantage of this technique.

An average runner can incorporate Fartlek into their routines by choosing random items along their path as ‘goal-posts’ where they promise themselves they will change their pace.

The runner might choose a tree that’s up in the distance or a bend in the road, or another jogger up ahead and tell themselves “When I reach that marker, I will increase my pace until I hit that next marker, then I can go slow again“, and continue choosing markers along their path as they go (this eliminates the need for the “total honesty” that advanced runners must have when they’re doing Fartlek without markers).

As well, average runners can use this technique to become more in touch with themselves as a runner.

Because it allows for so much experimentation, doing Fartlek can help less advanced runners become aware of things like how long it takes their breathing to become more difficult at faster paces, or how much faster their pace needs to be in order to get a harder cardiovascular workout.

The runner can also experiment and learn things like how wide their stride is at certain paces as well as other physical changes that occur at different speeds, lengths of intervals, etc.

This new-found knowledge can then help them become more advanced runners.

Fartlek training is a fun and easy way to incorporate interval training into your running routines as well as getting you a harder and more beneficial workout on your regular long endurance runs.

I do it all the time and always have a great time pushing myself and testing my limits to see how much faster, stronger and better I can be from one session to the next.

So get out there and start testing yourself, too!

Have a fit, fun and fantastic day.
Girlwithnoname

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Hey everyone!! Wow, its Hump Day again already! Mom was right: The older you get, the faster time goes.

Anyhoo, getting straight to the point today:

I got damn sick and tired of messing up my intervals all the time.

My mind wanders, I forget to look at my watch and before I know it, I’ve either run farther and longer than I was supposed to (not necessarily a bad thing), or walked farther and longer than I was supposed to (the “Cardinal of all Interval Sins”).

So, I went looking for the solution … I looked at a bunch of interval watches but everything I found uses audible beeps to notify the user of the start / end of each interval. Seeing as I wear an mp3 player when I do cardio, I just can’t hear the beeps, so that’s more or less useless to me.

So I kept searching for what I need: something with a vibration function to alert me that it’s time to change speeds.

Yippee, I finally found it. Thank you GymBoss.

So, now that I’m getting my “Intervals Done Right“, I also now have a new personal challenge.

Check it out:

Vibration-mode really is the way to keep me honest and on track with my Interval Training.

Since recording this little rave-fest I’ve also used the stopwatch function on my new GymBoss Interval Timer to time out my Kettlebell sets for exercises like Swings, Snatches and Cleans since I am now working out with my groovy new Kettlebells. And it works GREAT!!

Thanks again GymBoss. Super glad you exist and your little timer is fantastic.

Get Your Own GymBoss Interval Timer Here!!!

Workout Song of the Day

Yep, there’s a tie-in. I figure that now that I have this groovy new Interval Timer to keep reminding me, I can let my mind “Dream” all it wants to, I know I won’t miss my next ‘run’ interval when it vibes to tell me to get “Runnin’“.

See how I worked that out? Tricky, eh? LOL.

Besides, it’s a terrific song to help you crank out a great cardio session.

Enjoy!

Tom Petty – Runnin’ Down a Dream

Don’t forget, if you dig it and want to run down a dream while you’re getting your cardio done, just click on the Buy Button on the Player Widget and Amazon will get you set up asap.

That’s it for today. I’m off to kick my own butt on the seawall with some hard-core Interval Training (was there ever any doubt?) LOL

Have a fit, fun and fantastic day.
Girlwithnoname

ps. hey, if you haven’t heard my Interview with Scott Colby, “My First Six Pack” Creator from a couple of days ago, make sure you head over there, it’s an information-packed discussion that you really don’t want to miss.

Hey everyone. A bright shiny new week ahead of us. So full of possibility, right?

Got big plans? Big WORKOUT plans?

Hope so.

Anyway, had an interesting (and insanely intense) workout yesterday doing some HIIT (high intensity interval training) on the seawall.

So, I thought I’d share my story!

Let’s just say that there’s lots of ways to kick it up a notch …

… even if you just make up a mock competition with a total stranger solely in your own head.

That’s the tactic I used yesterday!

Check it out:

Grab Turbulence Training here and get jiggy with the Interval Training NOW!

< < < Turbulence Training Has Great Interval Workouts

And, don’t forget to check out my Online Fitness Coaching and NEW ‘streamlined’ Power Tools Email Fitness Coaching pages if you’re interested in working with me.

I know what I’m doing when it comes to getting in fantastic shape, right?

We’d have a lot of fun and I’d bet we can get you the results you’re looking for … as long as you do what I say! LOL.

So let’s get to work, shall we?

That’s it for today. Have a fit, fun and fantastic day!
Girlwithnoname

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