Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Trying out Tabata

Tonight I was hanging out watching the X Factor and got the notion to do some core work.  I don't know what moved me but when the motivation hits I'm not going to fight it. 

I decided to give the Tabata style workout a try and quickly Googled for a timer app.  I found the website www.tabatatimer.com which offers a free online timer.  It is automatically set up for 20 seconds on, 10 seconds rest so that is what I went with.  There were eight cycles of this to equal one tabata. 

I started out with a plank series where I alternated between regular plank on elbows and then side plank on hands.  I ended up with two sets per side and four regular planks.  After that tabata was done I wanted to do some more ab work so I went to Blonde Ponytail's website and did one of her ab workouts.  It was fun and the exercises were different than traditional crunches which appealed to me.  Her workout was six exercises so I just redid my favorite two at the end.  I did two of Jess's circuits to end up with a good core workout for the night.  The nice thing about the tabata was that it was perfect length for the commercial breaks!

I need to incorporate more core work into my weekly workouts because it would help me through out all my other endeavors.  A strong core is necessary for good flip turns and dolphin kicks in swimming.  I bet a stronger core would help me improve my butterfly too!  A strong core helps support your lower back and hips during long runs...from past experience I know that the stronger your core the longer you can fight off fatigue in a run!  And lastly a strong core is necessary to keep you upright on your bike!

I liked doing the tabata style workout because it was full of variety and was quickly alternating between exercises.  I really liked the timer on the website...it has whistles to alert you that the interval is ending and then it tells you verbally when the time is on to work or rest.  It meant I didn't have to stare at a clock and could focus on the exercise with proper form.  Could you all remind me to do this workout again in a few days?!?!

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