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Fit and Fabulous in 12 Minutes A Day: The New Interval Training I’m Crazy About!

Before I get into today’s post, I got say how much I have missed you guys! It has been a while since I have done my last post..things have been crazy busy! Between wrapping up my Summer Stunner Detox,finishing up my last year of teaching, to now vacationing to see family and friends in Florida, time has been a valuable and hard to capture asset! Glad to be back in the blog saddle!

Speaking of time being a very valuable asset, this new 12 minute interval training I have been doing has been remarkable at keeping me fit and sane in the midst of all this action! I was lucky enough to learn about this approach of cardio-training from none other than my fave Ayurvedic doctor, Dr. John Douillard. In his article, “Be Fit, Thin, and Calm in 12 Minutes a Day”, Dr. Douillard explains the hows and whys of how to approach this workout technique, which nicknames “Chasing the Rabbit”. The approach, he says, is built upon the science of heart rate variability. Here’s how he explains it:

“When you are fit, your heart has the variability to go very high, recover and then beat very low when at rest.

Historically, we would exercise as a way of survival. Hunting a rabbit wouldn’t require 45 minutes in your heart rate training zone three times a week. It would require multiple sprints that would last about a minute, followed by periods of rest while you wait for the rabbit to show again.

When we were hunting rabbits, we would sprint and get the heart rate up , then rest and be perfectly still while waiting for it to come out of its hole. Once the rabbit was out, the chase was on again and the heart rate goes up, followed by waiting and resting where the heart rate goes very low. This is called Heart Rate Variability Training.”

So what exactly does the IT kinda movement look like?

Basically it consists of the following:
1) Warm Up– Exercise slowly for 2 minutes using your fave machine or simply walking briskly or jogging slowly. Remember, this is not the time to go all out and be sure to breathe deeply in and out of your nose.

2) Sprint– You wanna go all out for a minute here, but in a way that you can still breathe deeply in and out through your nose. Be patient with yourself and allow yourself to build up your stamina over time. BTW, you can vary what your sprint looks like. According to Dr. Douillard, “Sprints can be running up and down your stairs, jumping jacks, jumping on and off a curb for one minute – just get the exertion level up.”

3)Recovery– For one minute, allow your body to recover by going back to the warm up pace. Nasal breathing is still important. Dr. Douillard says, “Nasal Breathing during the recovery will force air into the lower lobes of the lungs allowing for more efficient release of CO2 and activation of the calming parasympathetic nervous system that predominates in the lower lobes of the lungs. This will help you release toxins and stress.”

4)Repeat the sprint and recovery modes 3 more times– This will bring you to a total of 4 rounds of sprint/recovery. Nasal breathing is still important. (I am still working on maintaining my nasal breathing during this!)

5)Cool It Now (AKA Cool-Down)– You made it! Now just repeat Step 1. Exercise slowly with deep nasal breathing for 2 minutes.

It sounded good to me and made sense. Being a huge fan of Dr. Douilliard, I decided to put it to the test. Can you really get fit in just 12 minutes a day, you may be asking? Well, I think the answer is yes and Dr. Douillard points out that this type of workout does not have to be your only way of getting in movement; it is a nice compliment to what else you might be doing already. He states, “This twelve minute routine can be performed daily or a minimum of 3x/week for cardiovascular improvements. You can use this as your entire workout or as a cardiovascular warm up before yoga, a bike ride or hiking. In these twelve minutes, you will build your cardiovascular base.”

For about 3 weeks now, I have been combining this with some pull-ups and circuit training which I will talk about in upcoming posts. I gotta tell you that my favorite summer shorts are fitting me much better these days and combined with my healthy eating and yoga practice, I am feeling strong and fit.Go ahead and “chase the rabbit” and add in some of your other faves; you’ll be sure to get in at least a 20 minute workout altogether. Best of all, this way of moving is further proof that it doesn’t take a gym membership to get you fit and fabulous!

Are you ready to chase the rabbit?

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