GUEST POST: Mercedes - Transitioning to HIIT

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Hi everyone! I am Mercedes Moebuis and I met Jen as a fellow contestant on the Transformation Nation challenge. I am so excited to be guest blogging here! I have been fighting my weight basically since hitting puberty in high school. I had lost weight many times in the past but usually due to fad diets and diet pills and no exercise. In fact, exercise was a FOUR letter word to me for a very long time. It wasn’t until I had my first child and had gained 65 lbs with that pregnancy that I started working out. I enjoyed it to some degree but would go through spurts as to my commitment to it.

In 2011, a few months after I had my last child, I was done. I was 70 pounds overweight, had post partum depression and some health issues and instead of turning to food for comfort like I did so often in the past, I turned to exercise and eating healthy. I knew I needed to make a serious change and I knew I had to do it the RIGHT way- through proper nutrition and regular exercise, not the way I had before. I also knew I had to kick my workouts into high gear and find something I would enjoy doing. I had been doing some strength training and cardio a few times a week but nothing that really pushed me to my limits. I did like exercising but I was starting to find more excuses for not going to work out then to actually do it.

I would break my workouts down into an upper body strength routine and then another day a lower body strength routine and then I mainly walked or jogged on the treadmill, but I was bored with doing the same thing all the time. That is when I started reading magazines and articles that were basically tailored to the workout enthusiast. I started reading about how you needed to create muscle confusion by changing workouts up frequently to avoid plateaus and that my normal routine really needed an overhaul. I also read about something called High Intensity Interval Training or HIIT training that was growing in popularity in the fitness realm for torching calories and burning body fat. So I took what I had learned and revamped my strength training and cardio routines. I broke my strength training down into specific muscle groupings and I changed up my cardio workouts and increased my workouts to five days per week.

I am not gonna lie, the first time I tried HIIT I thought I was going to keel over! LOL! But I also was ADDICTED immediately! I started with 2 min walk and 45 second running intervals. I now am at a 2 to 1 ratio. So I walk for 2 min at a comfortable speed for me then I bust out an INTENSE run, as fast as I can go for one minute then back to walking. I repeat these intervals 4-5 times! At first my intense interval was about 7.5 mph but I now do my intensity intervals around 9-9.5 mph! It is such an amazing rush afterwards to have worked out at that high an intensity. Adrenaline is pumping. Endorphins are high. YES!!!!! Burn Fat Burn! The great thing about HIIT training is that you burn more calories in LESS time than steady state running workouts AND your metabolism stays at a higher calorie burn for up to 24 hours post workout!

HIIT training should only be done at most 2 times per week. I personally start my workouts with a warm up , then I do my weight training then my cardio. My typical cardio routines are HIIT training twice a week and then I alternate my days with elliptical, bike, step mill and classes like Body Pump and Body Combat. I like to keep my workouts fresh and ever changing so I don’t get bored!

I lost 64 pounds during my weight loss transformation and it has completely changed my life! I am now a Certified Health Coach, and about to get my Fitness Nutrition Specialist and Personal Training Certifications. Please check out more of my weight loss and fitness tips on my blog at www.mmwellnesssolutions.com and follow me on Facebook at www.facebook.com/MercedesMoebuisFitness.

Thank you so much to Jen for having me here! Its been so much fun!