Exercise Burst
Mr. Pennington and I ended our Disneyland 18 miles of walking weekend by skipping the shuttle and hoofing it 2 miles back to the hotel.
Soaring at California Adventure
We had been shuffling through the park in the mass of other tourists. We needed some exercise! We applied a technique I learned from this lovely book I highly recommend: FastExercise: The Simple Secret of High-Intensity Training.
Basically, we hauled ass for 3 minutes. Then strolled for 3 minutes. We repeated this cycle until we were back at the car. Simple pimple!
High intensity training (HIT) techniques rev up your metabolism, keeping you burning fat and skinny. But wait, there is more. HIT provides the greater cardiovascular benefits and builds muscle more effectively. The flush of heavy circulation is thoroughly invigorating. Wonderful! Fantastic! Who wants to spend tons of time exercising? Not me!
Like driving a car, it takes more gas to start and stop than to maintain a constant speed. For a human, the effort to get going conditions the body better than keeping going. This is a datum to use to your advantage.
I do a quick sprint when I can.
Here I am squeezing in a quick run in while touristing around Dublin. The rain started to fall, so what an excellent time to get my cardio in, keep dry, and get to the next tourist attraction fast.
I like this video because it looks like a horror film.
Time efficiency.
On a day like today when I am spending a lot of time writing, I get up every half-hour or so and dash around the house, taking care of business. I will literally run to the other room. This invigorates my brain, cuts down on other time I have to spend exercising, and keeps me feeling energetic. Those fast turns and quick stops around my small home has done a fantastic job of toning the muscles of my lower legs and feet. I get a lot done and at the end of the day I am as worn out as if I had done some massive heavy workout, without having wasted any time doing one.
My kettlebell workout at home.
I still do strategic workouts. I need to keep my arms and torso strong.
Kettlebells blast your heart rate up better than just about anything, making them one of the best fat burning, whole-body toning exercises around. At home, I do a set, then I stop entirely and go check my email or whatever. In a minute or two when my heartbeat has dropped back to normal, I do another set and spike my heart rate again. Then I take another break. I get a tremendous workout by doing actually very little. I am glad about this because I am concerned the kettlebells are a bit hard on my hands. Best not to overdo it.
Doing a One-Arm Swing with a 10 lb kettlebell from Target. Fifteen of these on each side and I am ready to check my e-mail. Never never never snap your hips. Or any joint. I have no idea why anyone would, but it is a common instruction in kettlebells and it is nonsense. Be gentle with your joints.
But wait, there is more.
We HITed our way out of Disneyland for an entirely other reason besides fitness and weight management. I will explain that in the next post. Right now, I have to run to bedroom to fold the laundry.
At the Magic Kindgom.