Mean and Lean HIIT Workout

Hey! So we all want to burn fat in the quickest time possible. Lucky for us, there's HIIT. HIIT stands for High Intensity Interval Training, and there's loads of different styles and variants. But the basic idea is to raise your heart rate with really intense short bursts of physical activity.

So today I'm gonna share with you a really great, quick and simple HIIT workout that is customisable as well.

You will need:

• Yourself
• 20m stretch of area, be it a garden, a field or the street.

To start off with make sure you do a proper warm up and dynamic stretching routine, always train safe.

Mark out your 20m (roughly) stretch, this is your sprinting section.

So here's what you're going to do:

• 10 press ups
• Sprint 20m and back
• 10 jump squats
• Sprint 20m and back
• 10 jumping lunges
• Sprint 20m and back
• 10 sit ups
• Sprint 20m and back
• Rest 30-60 seconds
• Repeat

Do this for 5 rounds. It's going to be tough, but keep it up.

The distance is customisable, if a total 40m sprint is too much, drop it, if it's not enough, raise it.

The exercises and the reps are customisable too, change the rep range up or down and change up the exercises too.

Hope you enjoy this HIIT routine and benefit from it! 

Read our top post: The Misconceptions of Women Lifting Weights

Footwear for Fitness

We should really have different footwear for different types of training and I'll go through what's best for different activities.

Weightlifting

For weightlifting we want to be as stable as possible. Stability comes through the ground, our feet, ankles and all the way up through our body. If the ground we're on is unstable we wobble, we fall and lifting weight is dangerous. So the next link up, our feet, also follows the same rules. If what we wear on our feet is unstable... we wobble, we fall and lifting weight is dangerous.

So bearing this in mind, what kind of shoes are the best to lift in?

Flat and firm soled shoes are best suited to weightlifting. We want to have an unbroken surface area, flat and firm soles, something to feel strong against the ground with.

I wear Lonsdale Leyton shoes. They're nothing special, cheap and cheerful. Comfortable? Yes. Flat and firm soles? Yes.

There's loads of great shoes out there, I'd get some awesome Nike ones but I'm a cheapskate. There are also some great specialized weightlifting shoes coming out, Romeleos and adipowers. These are specifically designed for weightlifting and even give a solid higher heel for those of us with poor ankle mobility. 

Some people like to lift barefooted which I also do enjoy sometimes, but you must put safety first in a gym environment, lots of heavy things being thrown about means please do protect yourself as much as you can.

Running

There are different thoughts on footwear for running. Some people believe a minimal shoe which basically gives the soles of your feet protection and that's it is the best. However, I personally believe that with the impact of running; your feet, ankle joints and knee joints all need a bit more protection. Always go with a proper running shoe, breathable material on top with a 'spongy' heel and sole. It's definitely worth spending a little more money on running shoes, you can't really put a price on healthy joints. 

The running shoes I have are Nike Pegasus 32's, they're really comfortable to run in and give me all the proper protection.

Most specialist running shops, or even some mainstream sport shops, now have treadmills in which measure various things about your gait and running style. They can match you up with the best shoe possible for you.

Thanks for reading! I hope this post has been helpful for you, if it has please do subscribe to the blog and follow me on all the social media stuff. Instagram @neverforgottenfitness & Twitter @NF_Fitness. 

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Countdown to Kili #1

There's now only 42 days until my girlfriend and I set off for Kilimanjaro. As well as this being the journey of a lifetime for us, we are also doing it to raise money for the Keech Hospice. The Keech Hospice looked after my aunt in her final days (See my motivation post for more info) and I can't thank them enough for the amazing work they did for her, and still do for others. Please feel free to donate to the charity, every little helps! (You can donate here).

Training has stepped up a notch!

What does my training include?

Strength training -

I'm following my own weightlifting program, generally 3-4 days a week in the gym. I split up my weight training days by pushing and leg movements day, followed by pulling and leg movements, and repeat.

I have a workout log where I have all my main exercises listed and write down my progress. As long as I'm progressing in strength or repetitions I'm happy I'm going in the right direction.

Cardiovascular training -

Currently, I'm trying to get out and run around 4-5 miles at least 3-4 times a week. Getting up and running before work or in the evening if I'm not going to the gym. See my post on safety tips while out running, it's important to stay safe out there.

My main focus while out running is to focus on my breathing, as well improving my cardiovascular capacity. Up on Mt. Kilimanjaro the level of oxygen can be as low as 50% of it's normal level due to the altitude, so keeping my focus on my breathing is important for me.

To increase the intensity of my cardio I run with weight, either using the day bag I'll be using up Kili, filling up a CamelBak with water (3kg), or sometimes both. It's good to get the feeling for the weight you'll be carrying up the mountain as we'll be walking for several hours a day.

Walking - 

We're going to increase the amount of long walks we go on too, to help break in our boots a bit more and to also get used to the walking with weight.

If you're interested in climbing Kilimanjaro there's a really good guide book that we use, check it out here. It's been really helpful to us, I'll do a review on it soon.

I hope you enjoyed this post, look out for more posts in this series! If you did like this post, please +, comment and follow me on Twitter. I'd be more than happy to answer any fitness or Kilimanjaro related questions you might have! #getmoving

Cellucor C4 Review

I've tried lots of pre-workouts in the past and after I ran out of my last one I decided I'd give Cellucor's C4 Extreme a try. I have to be honest and say I mostly decided to try it just so I could try out the Icy Blue Razz flavour, and I'd heard from other people it's pretty good stuff. So here are my thoughts on the product.

Price (3.5 out of 5)

I usually try and get the cheapest and most simplest products, either from bulk supplement websites or deals at local independent supplement stores. However, this time I used Amazon and found a 60 serving tub for just £38.42, which works out at 64p a scoop. (Since I bought this product the price has actually gone down! (£34 for 60 scoops!!!!! 57p a scoop)).

My previous pre-workout supplement was £23.99 for 30 scoops, which is roughly 80p a scoop. However, as I'll go onto later, really, you need 2 scoops of the C4 for a good workout. So that's really £1.28 a serving versus 80p a serving. Not much of a difference really unless you're on a pretty tight budget, as most of us are these days.

So as far as pricing goes I give C4 a 3.5 out of 5. It's not a bad price, but I can't give it more out of 5 just for the fact I've had other pre-workouts which were slightly better value. Probably due to the fact it has to be transported over seas to the UK, which will definitely increase the price.

UK Availability (3 out of 5)

As far as availability goes, US brands are sometimes difficult to source for us in the UK. Cellucor.com is yet to offer UK shipping, or have a .co.uk site. Some independent supplement stores do carry it, or can order it for you if you ask, UK GNC's can't get hold of it at all. There are a few of the bigger online supplement retailers who can get it, but I actually found it priced the best on Amazon and it came in just a couple of days. Hopefully, Cellucor will branch out a bit more into the UK market and they were at the BodyPowerUK Expo this year, I hope that's a good sign.

UK availability gets a 3 out of 5. Mostly for the fact they don't have a .co.uk store yet and for such a large supplement company I'd have really thought they'd of had one by now. I'd want to see this product in a lot more places in the UK to give it a higher score here.

Taste (5 out of 5)

Icy Blue Razz tastes absolutely AMAZING. It's fantastic, definitely the best tasting pre-workout supplement I've ever had. The only thing I can compare it to is the Blue Tango slushies they sell at Odeon cinemas across the UK, so if you want to know what this product tastes like prior to purchasing it go and grab one of those slushies to try. As I understand it's a blueberry and raspberry flavour, there's a definite blueberry taste which is offset by the raspberry flavour, which sweetens it up a bit. It's blue in name and blue in colour and definitely gives you a blue tongue, which is definitely a great side effect.

For taste a huge 5 out of 5! The best I've tasted yet, I'm a huuuge fan of this blue raspberry flavour. I'd like to see how it compares to other blue raspberry flavoured products out there.

Consistency (4.5 out of 5)

It mixes really, really well. You don't get any floaty bits on top but there is some sinking residue if it's left to settle. It's nice and smooth and isn't at all gritty in your mouth. I don't think you'd need a blender ball in your shaker, you could mix this pre-workout just in a glass with a spoon. When you shake this product up you do get a bit of bubbly froth on top, but I quite like it that way.

If it wasn't for the little bit of residue sinking to the bottom I'd give this product a 5 out of 5, however, it does so I give it a 4.5 out of 5. I don't think there's any pre-workout supplement that could get 5 out of 5 for this topic, if you know of one please leave me a comment below.

Effects (4 out of 5)

I'll break this part of the review into two parts, 1 scoop and 2 scoops. I'll give you some info on my body size, as well as that will impact the effects, smaller individuals will probably feel the effects more and vice versa. I am 5'10" (178cm/1.78m) tall and hovering around 80kg (176lbs) at the moment.

One Scoop -

Doesn't get me super buzzed, but definitely wakes you up. One scoop is perfect for getting you going if you wanted to go for a run, especially in the morning, just enough caffeine. It'd also be great going for a workout if you're going a bit later in the day and actually want to get to sleep at night.

Two Scoops -

I'd definitely recommend two scoops for weightlifting. Two scoops gives you the proper doses of ingredients and gets you a great buzz. You get more focussed and you get the nice tingles. Not the crazy amount of tingles that makes you feel uncomfortable but just the right amount, for me anyway. I also get a pretty damn good pump, veins popping everywhere and you feel a great fullness in your muscles. You get a really nice amount of energy, and after your workout you won't crash as with other products. It brings you up quickly but drops you ever so slowly, slow enough not to leave you hanging, even after an intense workout.

I'd say this is a versatile product because of the different uses I get from either one or two scoops. I get good effects from this product, and let's be honest, the effects of a pre-workout is what we really want from a product such as this. Great energy, great focus and a great pump. 4 out of 5 for Effects, only because for a great workout you need the two scoops.

Packaging (5 out of 5)

Very, very flashy, and mega shiny... which... COMPLETELY appeals to me and all other 5 year olds. But really, they have done the branding really well. Even the name is pretty good, C4... you know... like the explosive... explosive workout? Well done Cellucor. There's also enough info on the packaging about it, ingredient listings and directions are clear. Obviously it comes sealed for freshness and just safety as well. The tub actually comes well filled, it's not a giant tub with a miniscule amount of product in it. And the scoop was on top! Win!

5 out of 5 for packaging, a great all around look and feel.

Conclusion

All in all I'd give the overall product a 4.5 out of 5, it's really tasty, it works really well and it's not hugely overpriced. Thumbs up. Go and give it a bash and see for yourself.