Happy Mardi Gras Day! 💜💚💛Wear your purple, green, and gold in the studio! Such a great start the week! We have loved hearing all of your goals and healthy habits for the Iron Sharpens Iron challenge, and we will be continuing to encourage you toward progress daily! Our Lunch and Learn was also SO INFORMATIVE!!!!! Make sure You watch the video on YOUTUBE or catch the recap email. Let's continue to commit to our goals this month. You are strong!
This month is all about HEALTHY HEART HIIT! But what is HIIT anyway?
High-intensity interval training, or HIIT for short, was named one of the top fitness trends in the world for 2022, based on an annual survey by the American College of Sports Medicine.
HIIT is comprised of short, hard bouts of cardio exercise—anywhere from 10 seconds to 2 minutes in length—broken up by brief recovery periods.
How hard is hard? That depends on the interval length, and your body but the key is to go as hard as you can for the duration of the effort. So, you’re working in your VO2 max zone, or about 90 percent of your max heart rate (or a 9 on a scale of 1 to 10) for the duration of the high interval. Then you recover - your bring your heart rate down.
How much recovery you take between intervals depends on your goals. Short intervals are usually paired with equally short or even shorter recovery periods so your body can adapt to repeated maximal efforts. And because your heart rate stays elevated during the recovery periods, your aerobic energy system gets a training benefit, as well.
New studies on the benefits of HIIT make the news regularly. Take, for example, researchers found that just two minutes of sprint interval training (in this case, four 30-second max-effort sprints followed by four and a half minutes of recovery for a total of 20 minutes) improved mitochondrial function—when your cells can change fuel to energy quickly—just as well as 30 minutes of moderate exercise in a group of active men and women. In other words, going ALL out two minutes of really hard INTERVALS can give you the same fitness benefits as a 30 minute steady, moderate pace workout.
So it’s no surprise HIIT training is outstanding for your cardiovascular system. ♥️Research shows, depending on how fit you are when you begin, HIIT can boost your VO2 max (how much oxygen you can use) up to 46 percent in 24 weeks; increase your stroke volume (how much blood your heart pumps out per beat) by 10 percent after eight weeks of training, and significantly lower your resting heart rate.
It also makes your body a furnace of a fat burner. HIIT fires up production of your body’s growth hormones that help you maintain muscle and burn fat for hours after you’re done, and it lowers insulin resistance for better blood sugar control.
And it does more than benefit your body. HIIT is also amazing for your mind. Research shows that high-intensity workouts improve cognitive function and increase levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) more than easier exercise. BDNF is essential for learning, memory, and mood regulation, and your brain uses it to repair and maintain brain cells. HIIT really can help you live transformed in body, mind, and spirit!
TransFit offers HIIT options on Tuesdays, Thursdays, & Fridays! Maoist Transformer Strength Sessions have ant least two minutes of HIIT as well. HIIT Sessions are designed for every skill level so come give it a try! You can sign up to reserve your spot on the app!
After a heart pumping HIIT session you will want to try an inspirational YOGA Session. TransFit family, we now have yoga Tuesdays at 6:00 PM and Friday 9:30 AM. Join us to renew your mind and revive your body.
Save the stretches below and use to stretch your hamstrings and IT bands.
TransFit GIRLS
TransFit MIDDLE SCHOOL GIRLS is in full swing! Look at them rocking the Rise Together 5K T-Shirts! This is a great opportunity for middle school girls to learn more about fitness and nutrition in a fun and encouraging environment. These sessions are Wednesdays at 4:30 PM. Sign up on the app to reserve your girl's spot!
RISE TOGETHER 5K!
We are so excited to have our annual Rise Together 5K again this year! This is a special 5K benefiting ESP and is a great way to meet a goal and run with family and friends. We are so grateful for everyone who has helped out in the past and we would love for volunteers again this year! We need You to make this the best 5k of 2023! If you are interested in being on a 5K planning committee, sponsor the event or would like to volunteer to help on race day (MAY 6th), please fill out this short survey HERE!
Reminder for your day, "we were not called to be flawless, we were called to be faithful". Keep showing up, giving your best for you, for today. We are excited to serve you in reaching your goals. If you would like to meet for a 1-1 Session email us here.
Please check out our website for more blogs, inspiration, recipes, workouts, and more!
Let us know how we can help you reach your goals and dreams! Email us at transfitathens@gmail.com if you have any questions.
Blessings,
Team TransFit