Katie Boyd, certified trainer and nutritionist, specializes in getting beauty pageant hopefuls in shape. She also works with cheerleaders. These are two categories of women whose bodies are on display every minute do training them is no small task. Boyd is also host of Style Network's Wicked Fit, a popular show set in her Wellesley, MA gym, The Miss Fit Club.
With all this under her belt, she's got great perspective on how to get the rest of us ready for spring. So here are Katie Boyd's four tips to get in shape this spring (Also Read: Katie Boyd shares a meal plan to rev up your weight loss.)
Rule one: shock your body
The biggest lesson I have ever learned in my life: Your best bet to shock your
body into change is to do an 8 week stint of High Intensity Interval Training.
HIIT training consists of upper and lower body movements at the same time with
Isometric or holding contractions in static electricity in the muscle fiber and
Plyometric exercises which are explosive movements in between every two exercise
combos.
For example: Bicep Hammer Curl with Plie Squats then Alternating Side to
Side Lunges with Upright Rows then a Plyometric Jump Squat. A workout like this
should be done 4-6 days a week depending on how much body fat you are
looking/needing to lose. 45 minutes tops! Workouts that are hyperexplosive get
the job done.
Rule two: never say diet
Eat
six small meals a day! Never say the word DIET. Food is nourishment and fuel
for an active lifestyle and if you follow the 80/20 rule meaning 80% of the time
eat what I am going to show you and then 20 % eat some nachos or have a
cocktail...do not beat yourself up
over it. Eating every three hours makes sure your body is always working to
metabolize. Thus burning calories. I like to use the analogy of making a fire.
If you are making a fire you feed the fire kindling and some news paper or brush
and that usually ensures a bright burning fire that you can add larger items to
like the occasional log. It is the
same with your body.
Most people starve themselves until dinner time and drink
coffee to keep themselves going until the eat a dinner the size of Manhattan,
then go to bed with all that junk just waiting to be stored as body fat. How is
that ever going to work for you? Exactly...it never will! Adapting the twigs and
newspaper idea for your body as you would starting a fire is the way to go.
Always have some kind of a protein at every meal. It doesn't always have to be
food you chew...it can be a shake. You can also get protein from legumes like
hummus or nut protein like raw almonds or all natural peanut butter as well.
Tapering your starchy carbs off as the day comes to an end is also going to
really help you shed that body fat because your body does not need carbs at
night for energy. Just protein for repairing muscles and fibrous carbs like
green veggies.
Rule three: HIIT the treadmill
That's High Intensity Interval Training for your cardio, so head to the gym for this one.
Warm
up for 5 minutes on the treadmill at 3.0 MPH at a 0 Incline. Then 3.5 MPH at a
15 Incline...hold on for dear life it's going to get really real right now! Do
this for 2 minutes. Recover at 3.0 MPH at a 0 Incline for 1 minute
Then walk
side to side first starting on your less dominant side step together step
together at 1.8 MPH at a 5 Incline. 1 minute on each side. Then recover at 3.0
MPH at a 0 Incline. Sprint at 6.0 MPH at a 5 Incline for 2 minutes then recover
at 3.0MPH at 0 Incline...that is always going to be your recovery zone. Then to
finish the round you will walk backwards at 2.0 MPH at a 7 Incline for 2
minutes.
You will repeat this for either a half an hour 45 minutes or an entire
hour depending on what your goals are for body fat burn. You are getting a full
blown all around leg workout without the boredom of just blankly staring into
space.
Whew! Take a break and pat yourself on the back. You've done a great workout.
