Workout Wednesdays.... Plateau Pity and Tabata Training!

I like to keep my blog posts upbeat and positive but I am a human and not always happy. This last ten days I have been really struggling with my lack of progress. I've hit a serious plateau; I'm not losing weight, not gaining muscle and not getting stronger. I know I'm not an actual machine. The human body is unpredictable and life doesn't always go as we want it to. But that doesn't mean I'm not allowed to be a little annoyed when everything isn't happening as I planned.

I decided that my body needs a shock to give it a jumpstart and get going again. So I bought the LDN Muscle Bikini Guide V2.

I feel a little as thought I'm starting from scratch again. It's a little scary but it is fun and interesting to learn even more.

This guide is a definite improvement on the original. There's 2 full weeks of training programmes, aimed at not letting your body get used to your routine (which I think has been my problem). There's a new diet guide with comprehensive information on nutrition, supplements and body types. Everything you could want from a training guide is there, bar the voice in your ear telling you to push for one more rep!

Two days in and I've failed slightly on the diet side but I couldn't resist a trip to Yo Sushi! with my friends! I'm so excited to get in the gym today and do my new arms and back workout!

 

I spend a lot of time online researching form and technique and just reading about fitness types. I have discovered I am definitely an endomorph - easy to gain muscle but hard to lose fat! As brilliant as my LDN plan is, I think I would really benefit from incorporating some short fat-burning sessions into my regular sessions.

 

I don't want to be a slave to cardio and I don't want to overtrain so I had a good look around and discovered Tabata Training. Tabata is a type of HIIT created in Japan by Izumi Tabata. Essentially, the premise is a 20 second powerful burst of movement followed by a 10 second rest period, repeated. Some people choose to do this for up to 20 minutes but I think that's a little excessive on top of a mammoth weights session so I've found one that adds up to four minutes!

 

Hopefully this will get my heart going and fat burning quickly without exhausting myself and detracting from my weights training. Below is my little workout that I'm going to throw in halfway through my session today! I'll let you know how it goes!

 

20 seconds High Knees

10 seconds standing rest

20 seconds Jumping Jacks

10 seconds standing rest
20 seconds light Dumbbell Punches
10 seconds standing rest
20 seconds Squat Kicks
10 seconds standing rest
Repeat, done!