As I’ve said before, regular exercise gives you a variety of proven benefits for your body, mind and overall health, and it is an excellent complement to your low carb lifestyle. The winter weather may make you feel like you want to hibernate instead of hitting the gym or yoga mat, but here’s a roundup of some popular techniques that can be adjusted for any fitness level and that you can use to spice up your winter workouts and boost your motivation:
AMRAP: This stands for “as many reps or rounds as possible” performed in a certain amount of time. For example, pick a series of exercises such as squats, lunges, push-ups and burpees, doing 10 reps of each exercise for five minutes. Try to see how many circuits you can do. Next time, see if you can do more circuits in the same amount of time.
Circuit: A circuit is made up 4 to 10 strength-training exercises performed right after another, resting after the circuit. You can do the circuit a certain of rounds or complete as many circuits as you can in a specific amount of time, such as 20 minutes.
EMOM: Also known as “every minute on the minute”, an EMOM workout challenges you to complete a certain number of reps of an exercise in less than 60 seconds. The remaining amount of time is what you use for you recovery period.
HIIT: Also known as high intensity interval training. This is a workout that alternates between intense bursts of cardio and periods of less intense cardio. For example, 30 seconds of intense cycling and 30 seconds of less intense cycling, repeating for 10 minutes. Or one minute of intense running, 30 seconds of walking, repeated for 20 minutes.
Superset: This is a form of strength training where you move quickly from one exercise to a second exercise without taking a rest in between the two exercises.
Tabata: These are short intervals of extremely high-intensity training. For example, 20 seconds of intense, all-out work followed by a brief recovery of 10 seconds, for a total of eight rounds, with the total workout lasting about four minutes. To get the biggest benefit from this short, yet intense workout, pick exercises that will elevate your heart rate quickly, such as sprints or burpees.
You can create your own workout (at home or at the gym) based on these techniques. If you sign up for a class at your gym, your instructor most likely will incorporate some of these techniques into your sweat sessions. Going for a walk also reaps healthy rewards, or try our 20-minute workout. Depending on your workout personality—maybe you’re training for a 5K or thrive with an intense yoga session—you can also download an app that will take you through the training of your choice.
Here’s to making the most of your winter workouts!
*Consult with your physician before starting any exercise program.
