A new home exercise routine to try - no equipment needed

I revisited an old Catalyst episode this week to familarise myself with the research results on HIIT. You may have seen it. Here's the link if you're interested. Make sure you read this article too.

I know I've written about it in the past but to recap the gist of the show:

Excellent physiological benefits can be achieved with 

minimal time spent exercising.

That's it! You don't have to dedicate hours a week in order to achieve improvements in your VO2Max (which is the maximum amount of oxygen your body can use during exercise), insulin sensitivity, amount of visceral fat and cardiovascular strength.

That's great news for the time poor. Please see your G.P. before starting any strenuous exercise program. This kind of exercise program needs gradual building up to the level of intensity required.

I personally love to mix it up - when I don't have much time I'll do 4 x 30 second sprints as per the documentary. When I do have time, I'll go for a bike ride or walk around the hills or an ocean swim.

Here's a good short work out bound to leave you feeling like you've put in some effort:

Time on exercise	Legs	Arms/Back	Core	Cardio
60 seconds	Wall sit or squat and hold	High Plank	Plank on elbows	Caberet Kicks
45 seconds	Squats	Push Ups	Mountain Climber	Modified jumping jacks
30 seconds	Lunges – left	Supermans	Side Plank - left	Burpees
15 seconds	Jump squats	Tricep Dips	Crunchies	High Knees
30 seconds	Lunges - right	Supermans	Side Plank - right	Burpees
45 seconds	Squats	Push Ups	Mountain Climber	Modified jumping jacks
60 seconds	Wall sit or squat and hold	High Plank	Plank on elbows	Caberet Kicks

Just to explain a couple of the moves:

* Wall Sit - with legs at 90 degrees at knees and hips, sit against a wall and hold - burns!!

* High Plank - if your wrists don't like this try supporting your body weight on your knuckles or hold onto dumbbells. Wrists should be directly below shoulders, bottom always below shoulder height. This is a core exercise but a great shoulder stabilisation one too.

* Mountain Climber - high plank position and squeeze the knee towards the elbow - slowly.

* Side Plank - you can do this balancing on your toes or your knees. Make sure the elbow is directly below the shoulder, not out on a 45 degree angle.
* Supermans - lying face down with your arms reaching out in front of you, pull your tummy off the floor through out this movement. Kick the arms and legs trying to keep them clear of the floor to work into the back muscles.

* Crunchies - lying down, face up, I support my head with my hands, pull up the pelvic floor and pull the tummy down towards the floor, pulse up. Really keep that tummy from pushing up as you pulse up. You need to activate the core muscles by pretending you are drawing a belt in tighter and tighter around with waist. Breathing is done in the chest not in the stomach for these exercises.

* Caberet Kicks - Moulin Rouge style! Arms above the head and kick right leg up and touch left arm to right knee, alternate and go as fast as you can.

* Modified Jumping Jacks - As your arms arc overhead, hop onto your left leg, next - arms arc overhead and hop onto your right leg. Jumping Jacks with both legs jumping out akimbo will compromise the pelvic floor.

To finish I'm going to leave you with Tamara Madden's fabulous Pumpkin Loaf. I have tried so many gluten free bread recipes and now I always make this one for the freezer. It's easy to make - I do the whole thing in my food processor and it's full of protein. A meal in itself.