7 Up 7 Down Sprints plus Top 3 Reasons to Use Burst Training

When I woke up this morning, I immediately had two thoughts: I'm hungry and I'm sore! These are two messages I don't mind getting from my body. Feeling hungry tells me that my metabolism is working and being sore tells me that I had a good workout (like yesterday).

One of the key parts of the FASTer Way To Fat Loss®️ program is matching workouts to the daily eating plan. Low carb days mean burst training aka HIIT (high intensity interval training) or Tabata followed by LISS (low intensity sustained state) cardio. Burst training causes the body to move fat to be used as energy. LISS cardio prevents the fat from returning to where it came from.

Low Carb Day 2 - the workout

Warm Up - 10+ minutes walking to our workout location.

Speed Bursts - we did 7 Up 7 Down sprints ---> this is a basic pyramid workout of burst training. Using a pre-set distance (like a basketball court) sprint that length 1x, 2x, 3x, 4x, 5x, 6x, 7x, taking rest breaks between the bursts. Then work back down.

We found a straightaway on the promenade that doesn't have a lot of pedestrian traffic in the morning and eyeballed a good distance (see orange life ring in photo) for our sprints. This was a quick and dirty workout. It only lasted about 15 minutes, but it was tough. Tough, but good. I love the feeling that comes after finishing a challenging workout.

Top 3 Reasons to Try Burst Training:

1) You don't need any equipment! It can seriously be done anywhere

2) Since you are working at 90-100% effort, the workouts are short

3) Burst training depletes your glycogen which forces your body to burn fat for energy

LISS - 30 minutes of low intensity cardio. We walked back to the apartment. It wasn't quite 30 minutes (we had a hockey game to watch), but we made sure to stay in the fat burning zone.

Low Carb Day 2 - the meals

Broke my fast at 11AM - 3 scrambled eggs and two sausage patties ---> this was not too much food today. Yesterday I thought it was too much, but today I was hungry and I was thinking about the calories that I didn't eat yesterday.

Snack - Chocolate protein shake (best prices on Designer Whey protein on Amazon) and handful of peanuts. Added 1 tbsp almond butter to my shake recipe and it was so good.

Lunch - 4 turkey breast rollups and pb&j rice cake

Snack - nothing ---> I need to find a sweet low carb treat that I can eat as dessert after dinner since I'm not feeling hungry at this time of day.

Dinner - bbq chicken breast and steamed broccoli

I'm excited that I had another solid low carb day and improved my calorie intake (354 remaining).

Do you use burst training?
What are your favorite sweet snacks?

2 Workouts You Can Do While Doing A Load of Laundry

We've been living in a hotel for a week now and I'm running out of fitness gear to wear. I was forced to wear my favorite capris to the fitness room. I love them because they are buttery soft, but it's just so warm in there.

Tomorrow we are flying to Colorado to see the my stepson, so I really needed to do a load of laundry. Fortunately the fitness room and laundry room are right next to each other making it easy to work out and be close to my clothes at the same time.

During the wash cycle I did a 20 minute HIIT workout on the elliptical using a pyramid --->

5 minute WU (Set & keep the resistance at moderate)
30:30 seconds work:rest at 90% effort
60:60 at 80% effort
90:90 at 70% effort
60:60 at 80% effort
30:30 at 90% effort
60:60 at 90% effort ---> finish strong!!!
4 minute CD

Pyramid workouts are when the intervals get longer each set then work their way back down by the end of the round. The purpose is to challenge your threshold without breaking you. I love feeling like I cannot work another second, like I'm going to have to stop and then the break comes.

While waiting for the machine to finish, I filled the few minutes with planks and wall sits.

During the dry cycle I did a 30 minute LISS (low intensity sustained state) workout on the elliptical ---> I set my resistance to easy and aimed to keep my heart rate in the fat burn zone. It's hard to go slow after going fast. PS - add 45 calories to the total below because I forgot to start my watch.

I finished up with a round of planks and wall sits, then hauled the clothes back to the room. Instead of drying my fit gear in the dryer, I used Running on the Fly's great idea to hang dry it in the closet. It's still important to take care of your gear when you're traveling.

Hanging up my workout gear made me realize that I really need another pair of shorts. After my shower, I browsed online and found these, these, these, and these as possibilities.

Black is always my go to color choice, but these also caught me eye.

When we get to Boulder, I'm hoping to try them on and pick a pair.


Do you do laundry when you're traveling?
Dryer or line dry your fitness wear?
Do you prefer black or colored shorts?