In exactly 10 hours, I will be checked out of the office for eleven days while I go chase some dreams. I’m going to be annoyingly vague and just leave it at that because I’ll be blogging about my adventures in real time next week! :)

Moving right along, I’ve got another #throwbackthursday blog post. This one is so appropriate because I’ve been doing Tuesday/Thursday backyard HIIT sessions all summer. This morning started with something pretty similar to this sweaty circruit. Since I’ve been back from my latest medical trip to New York, I’ve been taking it easy on the running & supplementing more core, strength and bicycling exercises. HIIT is a combination of strength and cardio sooo we get twice the protein bites afterwards, right…? ;)

Side tangent before I sign off….I tried a mango for the first time ever last week and I’ve had 3 more since. What have I been missing?! Alllll the fresh fruit is one of the best parts of summer :)

Backyard HIIT Workout

Originally Posted on May 29, 2014

Yesterday morning, my backyard was transformed into an outdoor gym with 6 HIIT stations. We had country music, coffee and water bottles…all before 5am!

After discontinuing the LiveFit Trainer and re-committing to daily running, I set up a workout schedule for the first week of summer vacation that looked like this:

Monday: Cardio Carnival (35 min. run; 15 min. bike; 30 min. walk with incline)

Tuesday: Morning run on treadmill (5 miles); Evening run on treadmill (5 miles)

Wednesday: Morning at-home HIIT workout; Evening jog around park (5 miles)

Thursday: Morning run with Matt (5.5 miles); Evening run on treadmill (5 miles)

Friday: Morning run on treadmill (5 miles); Evening run around the park (5 miles)

Saturday: Strength workout at the gym followed by 7 mile run outside

Sunday: Long Run (8 miles)

Notice a lot of “Run” in that schedule? That’s because running is my FAVORITE activity. I don’t look at it as pure exercise or a chore. My mom said my enjoyment and enthusiasm for going to the gym and working out is “disturbing.” ;)

Yes there is a whole lot of cardio on that workout schedule, but I have tried a strength-dominant routine. It’s not for me. This is how I like it :)

So on to the HIIT sesh!

***HIIT is widely popular right now as many health and fitness enthusiasts have recognized interval training as one of the most effective cardio strategies. If you are unfamiliar, it stands for High Intensity Interval Training. It incorporates short intervals/fast and intense exercises followed by a short rest period, repeated for a pre-determined duration.****

At 4:55am, my parents and I headed into the backyard with some country music and coffee. I wrote out six exercises. Downloaded a HIIT Timer app. Set it to beep after 35-second intervals and 25-second rest periods. We did a light 5 minute warm up jogging across the yard and jump roping.

Circuit –> Move from one exercise to the next. Complete 5 total rounds of each. (30 minutes total)

My favorite station was jumprope and least favorite was mountain climbers. My mom and I modified the “push-ups with a clap” on our knees. We’ll repeat this circuit every Wednesday for 4 weeks before mixing it up.

We were way sweaty by then end. Even in the cool morning air, our shirts were soaked with SUCCESS ;)

This workout is easy to fit in at home or in your backyard. Should take 30 minutes & all you need is a jumprope! (Bonus if you get to watch the sunrise.)

Are you pumped yet? GO HIIT IT!