By Leslie Lindsay
So, last week I decided to take a new exercise class. I have been doing the same-ol, same-ol and had stopped seeing results/feeling good about the routine. It was time. So, skimming over the schedule for the spring classes, I choose to take “Intense Cardio Interval.” Sure, it sounded…well, intense but hey–if you don’t challenge yourself, you won’t change yourself. I went. It was hard. It was really, really hard. There were times I thought I may croack over and die right there in the studio. But, I stuck it out and loved how I felt afterwards.
The instructor called it tabatas. What?! I had never heard the term before. Sounded like tobaggan, of you ask me! But we weren’t doing any major snow sledding. And dogs weren’t involved. Though I felt dog-tired when I was done.
So, the deal with tabatas is you work out at your highest intensity ever for 20 seconds (sounds like a cinch, right?!) and then you get a 10-second rest break. You do the same cardio deal for a 4-minute cycle, then switch to a weight interval for another 20-10-4 (minute) stretch for an entire 60 minute class. And so I did it (sometimes reluctantly so). Interval training is supposed to be the best form of exercise, “You’ll burn about 600 calories in just this class…and you will continue to burn even more for another 24-48 hours afterwards,” the instructor chirpped.
But, here’s what I was thinking as I was huffing and puffing: “20 seconds on, 10 seconds off…humm, sounds like my life.” Bear with me.
I get 20 seconds to pee in private before a kid or a basset hound waddle in the bathroom. Now I get 10 seconds to finish before…”Mom! Can I have a snack?” 20 seconds to walk to the pantry and pour a bowl of Goldfish for my 5-year old. 20 seconds to tell my husband about my day before I am interrupted with a 10-second whining kid, “Do you know where my AquaPet is?” 20 more seconds to figure out where in my daily tirade I was. Oh yes…now the dog wants to go out. A 10-second “break.” It’s constant like that all day and night. 20 seconds to explain that picking your nose is really a gross habit and spreads germs. 10 seconds wiping the dog snot off the back door.
I think my life is intense interval training…but, geez…what am I training for? And that is what is in my brain today, Thurday April 26th 2012.
For more information on this type of interval training, see:
Leslie A. Lindsay| Writer & Creative 
Nice job trying the class. It’s a bit overwhelming at first, but I’ve done it since January and love it. It stays tough, but you get more comfortable with it and with pushing yourself.
It was a TOUGH class! I wanted to go back, but have been plagued with a cold that just won’t go away…I hope once my immune sysmtem is back up to par, I’ll go again. Thanks for the kudos : )