Health & Fitness column with James Jones Personal Trainer February 2012

It's been a busy start to the year with a lot of people wanting to get fit and healthy for 2012 and one of the main goals is to lose weight so below are some great exercise drills that will melt fat and help improve your fitness.

This month I want to talk about a certain type of interval training you can do at home, outside or in the gym, and the best bit, the workout is only 4 minutes long!

Tabata intervals were first introduced by the Japanese institute of sports by a researcher called Izumi Tabata.

The tabata protocol is one which requires maximal effort for 20 seconds followed by a recovery period of 10 seconds. This is carried out for 8 rounds giving you a workout total of 4 minutes.

I use this protocol more than often with my clients and it gets great results on body composition. The secret behind why this 4 minutes of training is so effective for fat loss is because you're working at maximal effort for a very short period of time and during the tabata workout you are burning off all of your glycogen (carbs) leaving only fat to burn for hours on end whilst you're resting. You will most probably feel an "after burn" for a considerable amount of time after the workout. Think of this as your metabolism firing up and a shed load of calories getting burnt whilst doing nothing.

I'm going to show you 3 proven fat burning exercises you can do using the tabata protocol with the help of one of my client's, Rebecca.

The Burpee is a classic body weight exercise used by many to get fitter and leaner from navy seals to school kids in pe.

Start in a standing position, squat down placing your hands on the floor, squat thrust by kicking both legs back and then forward then spring up as high as you can jump.


Burpee

Progression: add a push up and explode up tucking your knees into your chest

Regression: kick one leg at a time back and come up to a standing position without a jump


Burpee

You should aim to get around 8 burpees in during your 20s interval

Holding 2 light dumbbells by your ears squat as low as you can trying to get your thighs past parallel then drive up as fast as you can pushing the dumbbells above your head in the process then go straight back down to repeat.


Dumbbell thrusters

If you struggle to keep your heels on the floor or struggle to squat low then place a weight plate under each heel this will also stop you from bending forward and put more emphasis on the quads (thighs) which are the focus of the exercise.


Dumbbell thrusters

You should be doing around 12 reps each 20s interval, tempo is fast and your legs should be shaking by the time you finish the tabata protocol.

Start in the press up position, arms in a straight line and and stomach pulled in, bring one knee into the chest and back then repeat on the other leg as fast as you can. Think of it of running as fast you can whilst holding in the plank position.


Mountain climbers

This will burn your thighs and hips and send your heart rate sky high. Make sure you're unable to hold a conversation at the end the tabata workout, this will ensure you've worked at full capacity. You'll be ok after about a minute!


Mountain climbers

You can use all 3 of these workouts if you're struggling for time as a quick and effective workout. I'd always recommend using this protocol at the end of your workout. This is simply a "finisher" or time saving exercise.

Nutrition

Since the start of January I've been giving out a free recipe every Monday to anyone who comes to my circuit or kettlebell class and also personal training clients. The idea is for 12 weeks every week people get a recipe which is healthy and low in carbohydrates which will help people get leaner and also make you feel less bloated.

Below is a copy of one of the recipes, for more recipes, please like my Facebook page to view the first few weeks worth of healthy recipes.

If you have a smart phone you can scan the bar code for all the ingredients.


Recipe

Supplement advice

Take a probiotic to for a healthy gut. This can be taken in capsule format and will help extract all the vitamins and minerals from a healthy balanced diet. Taking popular mini yogurt like drinks you see advertised will not really help as by the time they reach you most of the good bacteria has disappeared.

If you would like to move better, look better and feel better then contact James on:
07764181780
www.jjpersonaltraining.co.uk
Email: getfit@jjpersonaltraining.co.uk
Facebook: James Jones personal training
Twitter: JamesJonesPT

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