Women's Health Workout Review: Fast-Track Results

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The April issue of Women's Health Magazine has one of my favorite fitness idea compilations ever. Everyone is super busy these days, so they decided to make a few workouts that can be done in twenty minutes or less. Sounds perfect!

Since there are too many great workouts in this article, I cannot limit my review to only one. Instead, we will be review the three longest workouts that caught my eye first. This week we will review the longest of the three, then, next week will be the other two. These workouts are comprised of the twelve minute Cardio Burn, the fifteen minute Build Strength, Fry Fat, and the twenty minute Fast-Track Results workouts.

​Fast-Track Results

This treadmill workout is very similar to a few I have been eying, but quite a bit simpler. ​The mag says that participants who followed this treadmill workout three times a week saw the same results as those who worked out ten hours every week. Getting the same results with a fifth the time would be pretty awesome to almost every person out there!

I have been wanting to try a treadmill routine for a while, so this simple routine seemed like the perfect fit for this newbie interval trainer. The routine is very straight forward with a few minutes of warm up followed by one minute of sprinting and one minute of walking or light jogging done ten times. ​Sprinting should not be killer, they recommend keeping it at an 8 out of 10 on the insanity scale. I stayed between a slow speed of 4.5 and a sprint speed of 8 during the entire workout. And goodness, was this a workout.

The entire thing took me 27 minutes, including the three minute warm up and cool down. The time went by super fast and I burned about 266 calories. That it a much higher calorie burn than I thought my HRM would say. By the end of the workout I was dripping sweat and felt pretty good. After this treadmill workout, I am sold. Next week we will be having another treadmill workout review that I cannot wait to try!

If you are like me and do not do too much in the interval or treadmill workout department, I would recommend trying this to start. The workout flies by and the routine is easy enough that you will feel good afterwards, not dead. ​Plus, the workout can be done on a treadmill to spruce up a boring workout, or outside!

Ways to Know You Need New Running Shoes

When I first started running I got the prettiest shoes I could find in a size that was available and fit me well enough. Silly girl. ​After rolled ankles, strangely sore muscles, and a few days of not being able to run at all, I have learned my lesson. Take it from me, there is a difference between shoes that work and shoes that do not.

Most running guides recommend getting new shoes every 300 to 400 miles, or every six months. If you do more than just run in your shoes- Zumba, kick boxing, etc., then replacing your shoes every six months could be the wiser measurement. ​Old shoes are one of the leading causes of sports related injury. You may need to replace your kicks or try a new type all together if you have any of these issues.

Bruised Toe Nails

Unless you are running marathons and mid training for Iron Man, there is no reason your toenails should get bruised. Having bruised toenails or nails that fall off is a sure sign they need replacement. Even shoes that once fit like a dream can start to hurt our little piggies since fibers are wearing down and your foot is not getting much support. 

The heat caused while running cause our feet to expand in the shoe. If your shoes are too tight or fit snug while resting, the constriction while running could be causing the bruises. Likewise, ​too loose of shoes can create a lack of traction and cause bruising from your foot sliding forward and back. To stop this from happening, pick a shoe that fits loose in the toes but snug in the heal. This will leave enough space for the toes to move and keep your foot from sliding while running.

Rolled Ankles

If your foot rolls inward or outward while running, your shoe is not pulling it's weight in the support department. Rolled ankles can range in severity from not bad at all to a break or sprain. ​

Shoes that give more ankle support will have wider bases and be higher around the heal. A good comparison is ​the sole of a Puma vs. the sole of a Nike Running Shoe. Most Puma shoes are made to be slim and lightweight with a small sole that rolls up into the shoe and has a very small heal. These are no good for support.

The Nike shoe, on the other hand, has a broader sole that is wider than the actual shoe and has a heal ridge that rises higher than the laces. These are the type you want, especially if you are are doing exercises that encourage side-to-side movement. ​

Sore Arches

One of the quickest ways to know if your shoes have moved on to greener pastures is the strain your foot feels after a workout. ​Once the shoe starts to break down, the arch support will go. If the top of your foot or the muscles in your arch are hurting, your foot is not getting the support it needs. This can be fixed with a few different methods.

People who have high arches may need added support, even in new shoes that fit perfectly. If this is you, try shoe inserts made for high arches. These are usually pretty cheap and will cushion the foot while keeping your arch supported. The best thing to do is bring a pair of inserts with you when shoe shopping. Most foot inserts make the shoe a half a size smaller. If your shoes are a bit too big, this could solve that problem as well!

For those who have had their shoes a while, getting a new pair may be the best option. Sure, a foot insert could help for a bit, but the fibers in your shoe have begun to break down. This will make the shoe less supportive over time. ​

Great Health and Fitness Tools

Everyone needs a resource or two when it comes to health and fitness. Whether it is an app, a great book, or some super cute running shoes; tools are important for the health and fitness trade. Here are a few great ways to learn about how to stay fit through books, the internet, or YouTube. ​

​Blogilates

I must admit, for a while I was not doing Pilates at all, but, Cassey Ho over at Blogilates has changed that. Her workouts are incredible and she is super sweet to boot! These workouts are usually 15 to 20 minutes, but focus on certain body areas and become very effective. The best part is how quick that time flies. Cassey is great at keeping your mind off what your are doing. She always has popular songs playing in the background and manages to keep everything light... Even when the workout, really, is not.

I would totally recommend her Victoria's Secret Series for some great workouts for arms, the bum, tummy, and legs. The arm workout is intense!

Foodist by Darya Pino

I loove Darya Pino's website, summertomato.com. ​It is filled with some great food knowledge from a PhD who enjoys eating healthy, well rounded meals. Darya and I both believe that healthy should taste great. Darya is able to use her neuroscience background to give some interesting and amazingly informative takes on food. 

I am soo excited for her first book to be released May 7th. ​Foodist: Loosing Real Food and Real Science to Loose Weight Without Dieting has been years in the making and looks to be just as good as her site!

Yoga Journal

Yoga Journal is ​a great webs resource for all things yoga. One of my favorite parts of this site is in the Poses section. Yoga Journal has every yoga pose cataloged for quick pose instruction, health info, benefits, and similar poses. This is fantastic if you are wanting to build a sequence relating to a certain body part, or need a bit more information on how something is done.  One of my favorite uses for this is building sequences. Every pose has a list of other poses that should come before or after, making sequence building super easy and the yoga flow super efficient. ​

If you are not so into building your own sequences, do not fret. Yoga Journal has incredible instructors and yoga videos. My favorite YJ flow has always been the Twist and Detox, but this one is pretty high up there as well. Check out the Video section of their site for video sequences that are separated depending on experience level. ​

Cardio by YouTube

I love my cardio workouts... Especially when they can be done on a treadmill or in the comfort of my own cozy home. ​There are some great cardio workout videos out there that are 45+ minutes. As much as I love them, it can be difficult for me to get 45 minutes of cardio, plus shower, plus hair and make-up into a day. For those busy-bee days, I look to the amazing Amanda Russell and some other fantastic, quick cardio workouts.

Cardio Kick

I found this cardio video while scanning youtube for some great workouts that take less than thirty minutes. This Cardio Kick workout came up and I became super excited. It is pretty rare that I think about a workout all day until I can do it, but for this one, I did. ​

Amanda Russell is fantastic. She can fit some great muscle toning, fat burning exercises into less time than it takes to do most anything. ​This workout is no exception. You will be sweating by the end and burn quite the high calorie count. The workout is a circuit that lasts about 20 minutes and is comprised of some jogging, jumps, floor activity, and kicking (of course).

I would totally recommend this if you get bored during long workouts or most circuit routines. The time between activities is quick and each exercise goes by quite fast. Loved it. ​

BeFit in 90 Cardio Workout

The BeFit in 90 workout system may have a post of it's own soon enough. BeFit is an incredible YouTube channel that has some massive fat burning, muscle building, workout videos. Most of there workouts are by a few different trainers and aggregates workout videos by trainers like Jillian Micheal's and Denise Austen. 

The BeFit in 90 is a workout system that lasts 90 days. This cardio workout video is one in the 90 day line-up, but is good on it's own too. The short circuits and high intensity will help burn fat while building muscle. Best of all, everything about this video is geared towards the busy person. ​The workout is intense, but it is over in less than ten minutes. This would be great to do on it's own when time is tight, or as a warm-up before yoga!