MY GYM!

If you have taken the time to read my website, you should know that I am not an intimidating-chiseled-gym-diva health coach, nor do I aspire to be. I do, however, work out very regularly. At home.

If I had my d'ruthers, I would 'play' constantly - as that is what exercising feels like to me. PLAY.

In a perfect world of plenty of time and resources, I know I would still work out at home as I am a highly sensitive person and a gym setting makes me very uncomfortable. But that is no reason to not put in the effort. As we all know, good food alone will not make for a well-rounded healthy person, and I'm not getting any younger. And neither are you. ♥

Over the years, I have acquired a little equipment. I have a cozy little space in my office for working out, and most of what I use is portable enough that I can carry next door into my family room. The bulk of what I do is comprised of a combination of physical therapy/yoga/stretching. I do some weight lifting. A few times a week, if all goes well, I also engage in Peak 8 exercises.

I first learned about Peak 8 from Dr. Mercola. I was familiar with interval training, however, it wasn't until I read the info on Dr. Mercolas' site that it all seemed to fall into place for me. I love that it only takes 20 minutes to do. HUGE plus there. It also is targeted to work your short muscle fibers in your heart, which when under cardiac stress are the ones that really need the strength. You can also do it with just about any form of cardio type exercise EXCEPT on a treadmill. I liked that freedom.

It's so very simple. Whatever form of exercise you choose, start off doing it at a moderate pace for 3 minutes. At the 3 minute mark you want to increase your effort to ALL OUT, and you will go ALL OUT for 30 seconds. I tell people that you want to push yourself so hard during that 30 seconds that you couldn't possibly do it for 3

1 seconds. Then, you slow down for 90 seconds. At the 5 minute mark, you have another 30 second burst of ALL OUT. Again, followed by a 90 second slow down. You repeat this process 8 times in all, and there you have your 20 minute work out. The reason a treadmill does not work for this is because you cannot immediately speed up or slow down.

It is recommended that do this no more than 3 times per week.

If you'd like to know more about the benefits of Peak 8, I would recommend visiting Dr. Mercolas' site.

If you'd like to know more about Highly Sensitive people, or want to take the self-test, you can access that information HERE!

Tell me, what is YOUR favorite form of 'play' aka EXERCISE.