To boost metabolism, Hiit can be an intense, time efficient way to workout. Hiit is high intensity interval training.
It involves breaks but then you go hard.
It might include:
Butt kicks
Commandos
Fast feet
Mountain climbers
Knee highs
Runners lunge
Speed skaters
In out squats
Air squats
Bicycle situps
Walkout with pushup
Pushups with shoulder taps
Kettlebell swing
Superman lateral raises
Russian twists
Plank jacks
Wall sits
Pushups
Plank with shoulder taps
Burpees
Stretch before and after. Drink lots of water. I started off with 30 seconds on and 30 seconds off, working through the 19 exercises in the order that I've listed. I ended up breaking longer after the first five and also at the fifteenth workout mark. The total time from laying out the yoga mat to the final stretch was about 30 minutes.
Since I workout at home without trainers, I wore cushioned sports socks. The jumping and running can be tough on my feet.
I first tried hiit at a Virgin Active gym in London years ago. I thought I was fit, but this was a whole other level. At home workouts mean I can do it at the right pace for me, but I need to be disciplined and push myself.
I've included a youtube video of a workout by a Virgin active instructor at the top of this blog to give you an idea of what it's like.
A wall clock with the ticking seconds is super handy but you can use the stopwatch on your phone or a watch.
Hiit is great if you want a new challenge, to try something new, burn fat and love a really good sweaty workout.
My staple workouts are weights, body balance and kickboxing. So a hiit workout is something to add into the mix every now and then because it can be brutal and exacerbate existing injuries. Be careful, form is important and if you're unsure then consult an expert or try it under supervision.
For more on hiit workouts, you might find these articles useful:
England team sing Sweet Caroline after Dennark win
The England team had a tumultuous journey. Tonight they play Italy at Wembley against a backdrop of history & a pandemic.
No matter what happens tonight, there is pride in the fact that hard work & perseverance has produced success. It provides hope.
The UK has one of the worst death tolls in the world with millions infected with long-covid. The football has been a welcome distraction from the misery inflicted on businesses & lives.
The outlook for tonight's match is positive.
In contrast, the outlook for the country is bleak with 50,000 new infections a day to be reached soon while laws keeping us safe against the virus will be abolished. Recent data indicates daily new infections in excess of 35,000. Hospitals are starting to struggle.
Gareth Southgate and his team have had a long term strategy & outlook. They have kept their eye on the prize.
The UK government in contrast have continued with a short-term mindset - arguing we must return to pre-pandemic normal this summer as next year is too late. This includes no more social distancing or compulsory masks & in some instances an end to quarantining.
The Economy
Economically this spells disaster. Growth requires a healthy workforce & people spending money. The more people infected presents a cost we pay to keep the healthcare system going, sick leave by employers & inevitably longer lockdowns because it becomes our only option. This sort of disruption discourages investment. Businesses like certainty.
If I had millions to spend, would I put it into a country that continues a reckless course of action?
The Stats
Certainly vaccines have afforded the UK some advantages. However, full vaccinations offers 90% protection against serious illness and 70% protection against covid-19. One in ten people could become hospitalised or die. Three in ten can still get sick, pass it on to others and end up with long covid.
30 million are fully vaccinated. This equates to 1 million and 3 million respectively of the vaccinated population.
It is still unclear how long antibodies take to develop to offer this 90% protection and how long it will last.
30 million remain 30% or less protected against the delta variant. This variant is 99% of the cases in the UK.
The Solution
The keys to unlocking this horror story & ending it is in:
1. Science & medicine - a cure or solution will be found. There is too much at stake & too many people are desperate to return to the business of making money.
We will develop more understanding of antibodies, relying more on quantitative antibody levels & testing to ensure we can operate safely, consistently & with more certainty.
The gamble of relying only on vaccines without any of the safeguards of legal requirements for masks, social distancing, testing and quarantining equates to taking off all of your defence and having only forwards. We will lose. It will be a long winter of no more football, pubs or freedoms again.
In the meantime, caution is needed. We want businesses to flourish. Support them to better adapt to this new pandemic world. Maintain safeguards where possible. More testing for covid & antibodies is needed. Prevent variants from developing by keeping infection levels low - variants are like being one man sent of with a red card and 10 men are left on the field.
Sadly we learn the hard lessons after repeated failure. Reality sucks. We are dealing with a virus that we have learnt alot about but there is still some distance to go. We all want this horrible situation to be resolved, but pretending we can return to a pre-pandemic prematurely will only add to our problems & reverse the gains we achieved.
Southgate got it right. Build a strong & competent team. Work together. It's about reaching the final and winning. Then it's about the World Cup. Mistakes might be made along the way. Some mistakes might be repeated, but it's about being the best that we can be.
You may also be interested in Gareth Southgates open letter which he wrote at the beginning of the tournament - Dear England,
Someone on twitter suggested Southgate for PM. He has instilled more faith and confidence in our country with his decisions and actions, far more than many others who are leading us to disaster on other fronts.
Enjoy tonight's match & stay safe.
Go England!
Here are some other posts you might find interesting:
We can focus on the past, present or future. Too much time in any one of these can make us full of regret, optimism or discontent.
Or if we spend our time thinking about what we have and what we're working towards, this can be a positive space that is more conducive to happiness.
We can accept the universe or a higher power works in mysterious ways by testing us & putting more obstacles in our path.
Ultimately, being in touch with our emotions & more of what we want than what we should do keeps us on track.
Nature is an important part of finding our way. When we spend time reflecting rather than ignoring our needs, then directing our energies in the most productive ways to these ends creates a wonderful way forward.
Every day I play 10 minutes of mindfulness, I try to find something to further my personal development, listen to music, have at least one nice meal, spend time with nature, rest when I am tired and I am reading much more. Throughout the week, I work towards my goals & feel like I am making progress. I am constantly learning new things which is great. I'm really interested in the growth mindset at the moment.
Some days are blah, but I try to remember that those feelings will pass. Each new day or after a nap can shift my mood.
The thing is that it's not what I have or don't, what I do or don't and what everyone else thinks or does. That's all just the cherry on top. In the end, it's a state of mind. It's what is in my head. There are things & people who live rent free in there & it is better to find ways to make my life simpler, away from these people & things.
It can be hard to remember all of this. Our minds are so cluttered with stuff to do, places to be & mindless chatter in our head. I am finding that doing less is much healthier for me.
Earlier this week I was exhausted & emotional. I took naps, cooked nice meals, spent time reading for fun & watched a little football. A few walks have also helped me recharge. It's funny how our week can be so variable.
Today I realised that I am really happy right now. I have songs playing in my head.
When the time is right, all that I have been doing will not be for nothing. Life has a funny way of working out.
Lately I've been feeling alot of self doubt. It's been a week of change, learning new things and facing some of my fears. When your inadequacies loom large, then your confidence wavers.
I've had to take a break, step away from everything and recharge. Books, a movie and enjoying the spring antics of the animals has helped. Sleep has been a great healer.
It's been important to remind myself of my accomplishments in my life and all that I have achieved throughout this period of self doubt.
I had considered writing up a list of all the great things about myself. It seemed like it might be something that might be useful against the monster in my head. I didn't end up doing that, but I have done it before when I was feeling very low.
People talk about courage and bravery with what I am doing. I am just muddling through and hoping for the best. At the same time, I now see that the skills and experience I've accumulated over the years have meant I am better equipped to handle it all.
It's a funny thing to be under the cloud of self-doubt but then when the sun starts to shine down again, you settle back into the comfortableness of knowing who you are.
Be kind to yourself. That is what we need to remember. The voice of self doubt is not the compassionate friend you need to be to yourself. Those thoughts aren't the sort of thing you would say to a friend or loved one. It's important to remember that when you the self-doubting becomes loud.
Self doubt is challenging and can fuel anxieties, but it is manageable and there are lots of people, tools & tricks out there to help you.
Even after you feel like you are managing to deal with the self doubt, you might wobble. A success mindset is another important tool which focuses on optimism and a long term perspective.
Other articles you might find interesting on self-doubt and a success mindset are:
"When did we stop caring about honesty and integrity?"
- Line of Duty Season 6
Sometimes I feel I'm so traumatised by 2020 - the deaths, government corruption and suffering that I can't face the news. There is no end in sight yet. There is no real solution or heroes. That is what Jed Mecurio's record breaking tv series Line of Duty Season 6 represents.
I came to the Line of Duty party late. It's been running for 10 years. I've watched all six seasons on BBC iplayer in the last few months, mostly watching one season within one or two days - a rare accomplishment for anything to hold my attention in this way.
It is a show about power, the real life loneliness in this world and our imperfections, dramatised in a fictional police anti corruption high speed chase versus corporate document evidentiary lense.
This is reality - one minute we're high and the next we are inundated with the tedium but necessary world of offices, bureaucrcacy, regulations and incompetence.
Season 6 of Line of Duty centred on the death of a journalist, the coverup and the possible demise of Anti-Corruption Unit 12. Now have a think about the media and journalists in the last 12 months. Also think about the coverups and demise of so many things we are living with.
I immerse myself in nature, beautiful images and frivolity to balance all the ugliness of this world.
It's the only way I can resume as a creative person, to write and continue when at times I cannot understand what has happened, why it is happening and not feel like everything is disintegrating into a bleak dystopia.
To say I'm traumatised by 2020 seems a bit melodramatic. Yet the thing is, I was, am and everyone was and is too.
Line of Duty provided an escape and keeps the cracks from growing too wide. It makes you want to believe there are honest people fighting for what is right despite all that is thrown at them.
It also reminds me that it is the journey that matters, not a single monent, or season end. 2020 is just one episode of my life. 2021 is a new season of challenges and stories.
I want to focus on the positives that have developed. I want to see a brighter future. I want the glass is half full. Whoever's job it is to fix our broken democracy must stop being incompetent and get on with it.
Was Line of Duty's season 6 finale a success?
A writer and artist is brave to step away from crowd pleasing and formulas. To stay true to a story, characters and the fictional world is golden. To make a statement with greater deeper messages and provoke us to think is genius.
The final hour might not deliver the neat tidy bow, nor the explosive dramatic action, but it does reveal more and still keeps the audience hanging. People are talking about the show and will watch a season 7. If that's not success, then what is?
