HIIT & Pilates - 2 Weeks Later

   I'm a little late with my 2 week post on this month's workout, and in truth I think it's because I don't want to jinx anything. This workout is undeniably tough, it's definitely the hardest thing I've done. The 30 Day Shred is a cake walk in comparison, no joke. But the reason I'm concerned about jinxing it is because it...it kind of seems to be working. I admit that I'm not really going to know anything for certain until I weigh or measure myself in another 2 weeks, but I swear I've slimmed down and toned up more over these 2 weeks than in any full month before. The workout is also designed to go alongside a 1500 calorie diet which I've been working with after speaking to a dietician, and it's the first diet I've ever been able to stick to because the workout is so hard that I don't want to be putting all that work in for nothing.

   I was right in what I said as well: it's not really very enjoyable. But I've made it work for me by watching Dragon Ball Z while doing my circuits. Watching TV while working out isn't a bad thing as long as your priorities are right. Meaning as long as your focus is on your workout, not on Goku chasing a monkey around a tiny planet, you're fine. And Dragon Ball Z offers its own nerdy encouragement to me, too, so what can you do? Gotta train if you wanna be a Z Fighter.

  

   But all nerdiness aside, this workout is intense. I'm at 2 circuits a day, alternating them as I should and maintaining form, and I'm using a 4kg/8lb kettlebell on the HIIT training. I'd rather use a 6kg one if I'm honest, but the moves are so tough and so new to me that I have to use a lighter one to make sure I can maintain control of it. I don't really want to drop it on my head. The pilates are tough, but I'm getting a good grasp of them, too.

   But the fact that every single one of these moves are so new to me is a really, really, really good thing because it means my body will take a lot longer to adapt to it, and when your body adapts to it, it stops being as effective, and if you don't change anything like the weight, number of circuits or even the moves themselves, you're going to hit a plateau, which is when your body just stops being challenged and you get absolutely nowhere with all your hard work.

   The moves are easy to learn, though. I don't have anything like an iPad or iPhone or anything I can use to view the movements while I'm actually working out, because the PC is in another room. So, just as I did with Kickbox Fusion - another workout I got from FitnessMagazine.com - I sat down, watched the moves and made notes on them on paper, numbered them, and then laid them out at the edge of the room on the floor while I was working out. It took about 2 days of each workout for me to stop having to look at the descriptions and just look at the list (names of the moves only, in order, on a separate piece of paper) instead. But I'm there now and it's much more effective.

   HIIT takes me about 10 minutes per circuit, and pilates takes me about 7-8 minutes per circuit, moving at a consistant pace. I've also been sweating buckets - no joke, I've never sweat so much from a workout - and drinking lots more water than usual. I'm also making better food choices with the 1500 calorie diet, and as a result I feel really good both physically and...gut-wise. Simply put: I feel good. I hope the next 2 weeks are as effective. I'm nowhere near used to the moves yet, and I don't see myself getting used to them in another 2 weeks, either.