One person that I owe so much of my fitness enthusiasm to is Kelly, a certified personal trainer, who taught me to love high intensity interval training. While the following post might come across as a sales pitch for Kelly, it is really a thank you note.

Please note, I’m not a personal trainer and any information shared in my posts is from my view as a workout user not expert.

Kelly and I met at a big box gym when she worked there and I was a patron and we were paired up. That location closed, I moved to the next location as did she, but she eventually left to strike out on her own. At that time, I was committed to my personal workout journey and ready to plow forward without my trainer training wheels. Thanks to Kelly, I was armed with so much information, workout ideas and the idea that I could continue on my own. I did, until I injured my back, again. It’s a frustrating experience and now I’m working to prevent injury and reduce bounce back time.

I have copies of Kelly Workouts, as I call them, laminated and in my gym bag at all times. I’m happy to say the weight and reps have increased and my stamina is always improving. Below, she’s doing rows in plank (or plank’n rows) which has come to be one of my favorite exercises.

HIIT: High Intensity Interval Training

Kelly introduced me to 30-minute high intensity interval weight training. She gave me the goal to burn 100 calories per 10 minutes. I start with a warm up that takes my body from sedentary desk-mode to vertical and in motion.

Then, cardio bursts (plyometric moves) that might be jumping jacks, sprinting, squat jump backs, mountain climbers, burpees, jump through — anything goes! Then, two circuits of weight training sandwiching another cardio burst and ending with floor work concentrating on my strengthen my back and abs.

I can only remember one time that tears welled up in my eyes and it wasn’t because it was a physically hard workout. I was mentally broken down and hanging on by a thread, but I pushed through and left that workout as I leave all of them: sweaty, excited and amazed at what I can push my body to do.

While my body doesn’t scream fitness fanatic, I have to remember even in my youth I was built more like a fire hydrant than a flag pole. I no longer let my appearance to trick my mind into thinking I am unable to visit any class, workout or studio and try my best. Taking a chance on myself and new places is how I’ve learned what I do and don’t like.

Much of what I like about a class comes down to the instructor’s personality and whether he/she is willing to work with me regarding my back. Kelly is very aware and concerned about the compressed disc I have and works with me to move properly. She makes sure I understand why certain moves aren’t good for me. She also knows I really enjoy indoor cycling and gives me moves to target my hamstrings and glutes.

Additionally, Kelly keeps an eye out on fitness DVDs (we dish on Jillian Michaels and Bob Harper) and she gives me her Fitness magazines when she’s done reading them.

Kelly is positive, encouraging and complimentary. Always. My experience at other studios and various classes has taught me any money and time spent with Kelly is well worth it.

Thank you Kelly!