Triple Threat Tabata Workout
(and some fun news!)
Hi friends! How’s the morning going? I LOVED reading your comments on the “Is Zumba dead?” post and the things that almost screwed up my fitness life. I’m so excited to try out some new dance cardio classes, like Werq, and I’ve been meaning to give Jazzercise a whirl forever. Also, it was really interesting to hear your thoughts on the things you had to learn the hard way. It’s nice to know we’re all in this together. <3 Many of you asked me about my history with overtraining; I have a post about it here if you’d like to check it out.
Today, I’m sharing my favorite type of workout: strength with cardio blitzes. The strength portions help to increase strength and build strong, lean muscles, while the cardio segments blast your heartrate so it remains elevated for the strength portions. By doing this, you’re able to get in a higher calorie burn during your workout. This specific workout utilizes Tabata intervals, which are 4-minute rounds of heart-pumping exercises. To my beginner friends: I would skip the Tabata intervals and do 4 minutes of steady state cardio instead. As always, check with a doc before making any fitness changes, and honor your body. Modify as needed.
And now, for some news:
in two weeks, I’m officially starting yoga teacher training! It’s a 200-hour course (RYT through Yoga Alliance).
AHHHHHH.
This is something that I’ve been wanting to do for years, and in the past, the timing or location didn’t allow it. I had the opportunity to start training at my favorite studio in Tucson, but their training started a couple of weeks after we moved. Since we arrived in San Diego, I’ve slowly been working on finding my yoga home. While there is a LOT of amazing yoga here, I finally found the spot, and I’m so, so excited for this new learning journey.
Something that stood in my way of doing yoga teacher training is that yoga is something very special to me, and something that I like to do just for myself. It seems selfish, but once you teach a class, it entirely transforms your perception of the class, and it can also remove some of the pure joy you receive from the class experience. Now, whenever I take a class that I teach, of course I enjoy it, but I also find myself paying extra attention to the form cues, the music, the volume levels, energy, and things that are important to me as an instructor. So, going into this, I’m going to focus on maintaining the spirit and the enjoyment of yoga. I’ll be able to use this training to deepen my personal practice, and it will help me immensely as a trainer and instructor. Many clients and class participants enjoy the yoga element, and when I train clients now, they don’t just want basic strength training; they want boxing, barre-type exercises, TRX, kettlebells, yoga, a mix of everything. I love the emphasis on alignment, and know that the form cues alone will be invaluable. I’m also excited to really break down the poses.
Yoga is something very special for me, and I’d love the ability to share it with others. I’ve seen the positive impact it can have on mental health and overall wellbeing, and am thrilled to be able to learn from powerhouse instructors and deepen my practice. <3
What’s something that your favorite group fitness instructor does? Yoga instructor friends: I’d love to hear about your YTT experience!
Hope you have a lovely morning!
xoxo
Gina
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Congratulations Gina! I know you’ve talked about your desire to do yoga teacher training for awhile so I’m so happy to see you finally finding the perfect opportunity!
Congrats on taking the leap to start yoga teacher training! I know that is something you have been talking about on the blog for awhile. I’m excited to learn more about your studies! Good luck!
Congratulations on this new step!! I was inspired to take start taking yoga classes a year ago after reading a couple of posts on your blog! I am so glad that I read your posts because yoga has definitely changed my mind in so many ways. I feel like my body handles stress differently these days and not to sound dramatic, but it sometimes feels like a religious experience because I feel so grounded and peaceful after each class. Good luck with your classes!!
so amazing to hear <3
Congratulations! You will bring a great energy to your class. I love when my teachers share a special message, help adjust me in a pose and use (fake) candles to set the mood of the class.
That is so exciting!! I think you’ll be a fantastic yoga teacher!
Congrats Gina! so excited you’re starting on this journey!!
Congratulations, Gina! I know you’ve been thinking about this for a while. 🙂
I LOVED my YTT 200 hour. Every training is different and some may focus on things others don’t. For instance, I do wish that my training had focused more on anatomy, though he did go over adjustments quite a bit. If that’s something that is important to you I’d say just check with the teachers beforehand to ensure that it will be covered.
After the first weekend of training I was at my now in-laws for dinner and could barely move. I was beyond sore and tired from all of the physical movement and mental stimulation. However, I wouldn’t have changed a thing. Expect to be exhausted some days and question yourself a lot. I would often wonder if I was even “skilled” enough as a yoga student to be in a teacher training, especially when I wouldn’t take my own advice and would compare myself to others. Then one day I did a handstand for the first time (in my entire life…nervous child), and found confidence I really didn’t know existed.
The thing about teacher training is that it is so personal to everyone. If you keep in mind your reasons for doing the training, even if they have squat to do with actually teaching yoga, you will get so much out of it. I won’t even tell you how much we all balled like babies on our final day of training. It was a hot, zen mess. lol! 😉 <3
Okay this may seem weird, but… I totally had a dream that you were teaching a huge yoga session here in Nashville in one of our parks! A TON of people were there and you rocked it as per usual.
You will be such an awesome teacher! Hope you film a few Youtube yoga workouts for your fans across the U.S. 🙂 The way that you teach on your Youtube workouts is spot-on. Thank you!
thank you! i definitely will!
When you said, “and now for some news…” my heart leapt for you because I thought you were gonna say you were pregnant! ha ha.
🙂
I totally thought that too! 🙂
So awesome!! I’m in the middle of my yoga teacher training right now and it has been transformative for my practice (and of course that trickles into life). I just recently taught my first yoga class and left feeling SO inspired with how awesome sharing yoga is.
I’m so excited for you, Gina! Congrats!
I will say, hands down, my YTT was one of the most powerful experiences on my life. My teacher went deeeeeeep in ways I wasn’t expecting, and the training had me not only learn about yoga, but I also learned a lot about myself.
I would agree that teaching has changed my practice. I have to actively avoid thinking about cues and alignment notes from teachers, and just enjoy and be in the moment. A lot of people train on different alignment notes, so now instead of judging someone else’s cues, I just have to think “okay they were taught differently.” but sometimes I’ll just do what I know feels better for me. That’s the point of yoga anyways, to honor your body. I will say, teaching and sharing yoga is one of the most awesome ways to teach. You really are giving light to your students. You are gonna be so awesome at it, I’m SO excited for you!!!!!!
loved reading this so much. i’m so excited about it <3
I teach yoga through my campus rec center so I am not an RYT. I’d love to do a 200hr TT as soon as time/money allows (ie, after grad school). I had similar concerns about teaching yoga since I consider my practice so personal and sacred time for me. However, I quickly found that I really love sharing it! Teaching yoga is this really amazing opportunity to combine lovely sequencing with mindfulness in a way that changes lives more than any other fitness format. Also, it has inspired me to bring mindfulness elements into other formats I teach, which gives my patrons a more well rounded experience in any class.
Yay!! I’m so glad you’re doing yoga teacher training! I’m a third into mine, which started in January and ends in June, and I am absolutely get the most out of it. I honestly feel like everyone should do YTT, just because the discussions open up new space for growth and vulnerability, and the alignment is SO important. I was kind of out of touch with my yoga practice before starting, but it’s really connected me back to it. There are only so many things an instructor can talk about in an hour long class, and some students who have been going to studio classes for years are JUST learning some essential pieces of alignment. Honestly, I’m sad each session it gets closer to the end! I think you’re going to love it.
that is so awesome. that’s what i’m hoping to learn, too. i’ve been practicing on and off for 10 years, and i feel like i barely know the surface of many of the poses
WOOT WOOT!!!!!!!!!!
Looks like a great workout! Love the strength moves paired with the tabata style cardio.
And yay! I’m SO thrilled for you about your yoga training! xo
How exciting for you! You will be amazing! Yoga is something I am just now getting into.
Good luck!
Congrats Gina! I know you will be amazing! Definitely will be tying the tabata workout tomorrow.
thank you! let me know how you like the workout!
Congratulations!
I completed my YTT in 2013, and I am soooo glad I did it! For me, the biggest changes I noticed from it was to focus more so on how a posture feels, rather than trying to achieve how you think it should look (my favourite quote is “If you’re feeling it, you’re doing it”). I also find that as a person, it helped me let go of a lot of stress and live more in the moment.
At the time of my training, I remember feeling disappointed that I hadn’t experienced the life-altering experience everyone raves about. But 2 years later, my entire life is different so I think it just took me a bit different to soak in the teachings and create a life that was right for me!
I can’t wait to hear your perspective of it!
I didn’t have the life altering experience right away either, and I was SO disappointed. But, I remember looking back a year later and realizing how much more patient, understanding, and optimistic I’d become (the last one is still frequently masked by my one true love, sarcasm).
The hardest part of TT for me, was realizing I didn’t have to, and shouldn’t, sound like everyone else in the class. I will forever be the one cracking jokes about wringing out cocktails from the night before while I’m revolved crescent. And that’s okay, because that’s what’s authentic to me.
love that so much <3
Congrats on decided to do YTT. That’s so exciting!
Congratulations!! You will be an amazing yoga instructor. This is one of my goals as well, but I’m also waiting for the right time/place ; )
Congratulations! That’s very exciting, for sure. Can’t wait to hear more about how the training goes! So, I’m not sure if this will fit in with yoga very well, but one of my favorite group fitness instructors MAKES everyone introduce themselves to one or two people at the start of each class. Then, before we get started, we go around the room (lightning fire round!) and say one thing that we learned about that person. I love this, personally, because I find it’s easy to do a group fitness class and not talk to anyone the entire time, and that kind of defeats the purpose for me. I don’t expect to carry on a huge conversation, but it’s nice to acknowledge each other, make a connection and then get your sweat on.
i love that so much! you’re right, sometimes it’s easy to go and get in the zone and not really talk to anyone. i’m guilty of doing that at orangetheory
I am taking advantage of Class pass right now to really try some different things. I do love yoga, but find I like it at home, where as suddenly I’m really excited about pilates
YTT was interesting. Always a wide variety of people! What style of yoga will you study or hope to teach?
hopefully vinyasa flow classes. i also love juicy restorative classes
so exciting! can’t wait to hear more about your training.
Congrats! I think your love and passion for yoga (and fitness in general) will make you a great teacher! Good luck with the training. 🙂
thank you so much! <3
Oh, Gina, this is such wonderful news and I’m soon happy for you!!! You’ve bern talking about this for sooo long and now it’s finally happening.
Yoga teacher training is one of the things high on my list for when I get back/settled after travelling.
I’m always incredibly excited when other people do it, just because I love yoga so much!
I hope you’ll blog about your journey!
Enjoy 🙂
thank you so much! it’s definitely something i’ve been wanting to do for a long time 🙂 i will definitely post about the experience!
Hi Gina! That’s awesome! My relationship with yoga has grown so much over the past year as I’ve tried a bunch of styles and studios. I don’t think I’m interested in teaching it (much like you said, it’s more about ME), but I would LOVE to know some of the things you would learn through training! Can’t wait to follow your experience.
Quick question: Do you do one round of the strength combo and then a Tabata and then move on to the next strength combo, or all three rounds of the first strength combo and then a Tabata? I’d like to do this workout this afternoon since my early morning class was canceled because of snow 🙁
3 rounds, tabata, 3 rounds, tabata, 3 rounds, tabata
Thanks! Did it this evening and it was wonderful!
Congrats on the YTT!!
I also loveeeee tabata (in a weird, awful way). I’ll definitely be trying this workout. 🙂
same. i adore it in a weird way 🙂 let me know how the workout goes!
Congrats! I am so horrible about doing yoga even though I know how important it is for me as a runner and athlete. I just can’t seem to make myself do it!
Thanks for the workout as well. I am graduating from an internship at a local studio here in Chicago in a week and a half and have to design my own class for people to come and take. I love tabatas, so it’s going to be a tabata class for legs and butt. I can’t wait to teach it! Now I just need a playlist…
So exciting for you!
Yoga teacher training has been a goal of mine as well and I am really hoping to follow through with when I move to Indonesia…seems like a fitting place to do yoga training 🙂
um YES 🙂
I will keep you posted!
How exciting!!! We’ll both be doing YTT this year 🙂 I guess you were way ahead of me when I told you my news the other day and insisted you should do it! Ha 😉
When does your program start? I hope you blog about your experience as I don’t start until June and am anxious to hear what it’s like!!
i wanted to tell you so badly when you left that comment! i wanted to make sure i had paid for it, and nothing weird had happened (like a crazy cancellation) before i spread the news
it starts two weeks from today! i’ll definitely post about the experience 🙂
xoxo
That’s so awesome Gina!!! Congrats!! It’s been on my life’s to do list as well 🙂 Good for you, can’t wait to hear how it all goes!
thanks, girl! i will definitely post about it
Congratulations Gina! That’s so awesome! Really excited to hear about your journey with your yoga teacher training!
thank you, alex!
Congrats! So very exciting! That’s a great addition to add to your know-how 🙂
I love when my Orange Theory trainer keeps talking through our pushes and all-outs. When we have long 2-3 minutes and it goes quiet my mind starts to focus on how much I want to take down my speed even though my body can handle it. I have one great instructor that talks through the two minutes – obviously not continuously but every few seconds she’s saying something about how we can do it, how we want, how we stepped in the room today to better ourselves. I always want to do her and myself proud and I stick it out and am so happy when it’s done!
I really started to notice it when the other trainer would be quiet, and I’d be looking to her through the mirrors just willing her to talk us through it LOL
i totally agree about OTF. love when the coaches actually COACH through the tough and longer rounds
Aww Gina! How exciting. Although I have never met you in person, for some reason, you remind me of a yoga instructor…the way you write and explain things just reminds me of how some of my favorite yoga instructors teach with a sense of calmness, positivity and thorough explanation in a confident yet non-overbearing way. (I know it sounds weird, but you know how you just picture things in your mind??) You’re going to be so phenomenal at this! I’m so excited for you!
reading this made my heart so happy- thank you so much <3
I think you’ll be a great yoga instructor Gina. yoga inspired the name for my new blog! I love the acceptance that is generated in a yoga class – honoring your body today.
thank you, angela! totally agree. i love that it’s something everyone can use and receive benefits from
I’m excited for you! I know you’ve been talking about doing it for awhile. Yay!
thank you, friend!
Congrats on starting a new adventure! I love yoga but am not that great at it yet! My love for yoga was renewed when I started P90X3 this week, and the yoga routine with the program is great! Very basic but reminded me how much I love yoga! The tabata workout is great too!
This workout was so much fun! Perfect way to start Friday morning! Thanks!
I’m a day late on this one, but congratulations on starting Yoga teacher training! I have been thinking about YTT some time too, but got happily sidelined over the past couple of years with Pilates and barre trainings. This past December, however, I completed a 40-hour yoga TT to get my feet wet and just see…and I was hooked. A 200-hour program is on my current “to do as soon as I possibly can” list. In the meantime, I’ve been splashing more yoga into my barre classes, and my own practice has been re-sparked. I’m looking forward to reading about your journey, alongside your other awesome posts, on the blog!
I just discovered your awesome blog and even more interested now that you will be going through Yoga Teacher Training! I’m into running but love to mix it up with cross-training, yoga and sometimes dance classes. Can’t wait to follow you through your yoga training and, congrats!!
Devon
Congratulations on starting your teacher training! I am starting my 200 hour YTT next week!
yay! TYY twins 🙂
I did this workout yesterday & WOW I’m so so sore today! I’m currently 7 months pregnant, so I did muscle ropes instead of the burpees (wanted to keep my heart rate up ;)) & chest presses instead of the push ups.. I LOVED IT!
Bookmarked this a while back and did it today – great workout! Took me about 30 min, which was perfect for what time I had today while my kids were napping 🙂 Thanks for sharing!