Hard to believe, isn't it?



Imagine how hard it was for my wife to believe me when I told her. You can believe that she's always been my toughest customer. But, when she finally did give these exercise techniques a chance, she loved the results. Here's what she had to say:

My name is Tamara Kauppinen and I had my fifth child (that's right, fifth!) in October of 2005. I was 34 years old and after having Keion, I, like every other mom, wanted to lose the baby weight that I put on during pregnancy (which by the way was 43 pounds). I am a fairly small person to begin with so this was a lot of weight to put on for me.

Before I go on, let me tall you that after having my fourth child I worked hard, ate somewhat healthy and got down to a size 2 and some 4's. When I say that I worked hard, I mean I WORKED HARD. I got up 5 days a week at 4:30 am to get to the gym to get in my 1 1/2 hours at the gym. Rain or shine, and even during a February snowstorm where I ended up in the ditch I dragged myself in to work out. I did weights for about 40 minutes and the rest of the time I spent on the cardio machines. I rotated through the different cardio machines at the gym; the treadmill (which I HATE running), the elliptical, the stairclimber. I got so that I could do 60 minutes of hard intense cardio. I totally saw the results and really didn't have to curb my eating habits. (I have to tell you that I'm a chips and salsa addict. Anything with salt and I am in heaven!)

So right before I got pregnant with my 5th baby, I weighed about 117 pounds and I am 5'7'. I was fit if I do say so myself. I tried sticking with my workout program once I got pregnancy, but it's hard to stick with something so intense! Especially the 4:30 am thing, I just wanted to sleep.

Anyway, I'm sure that if you have gotten this far you are wondering why I am writing this and it is NOT to brag trust me! After babe number five, I just still couldn't get motivated to eat healthy again and lose the weight, plus there was no way that I was going to get back up at 4:30 am after being up all night with an infant. I decided that I was just going to have to be 15 pounds heavier and that I would have to learn to live with it.

Then I listened to a "wise" man and tried a different type of workout. That man turned out to be my husband, Tim. Now, if you're like me, the last person you want to admit is right is your hubbie. So, I ignored his advice for a long time. Even though he had been a successful athlete and coach for years, there was no way I was going to give him the satisfaction of being able to say "I told you so".

But, eventually I got so frustrated with myself and the lack of results I was getting from "regular" cardio that I decided to give his way a shot. And (for only the second time that I'm willing to admit it to him), he was right.

What Tim suggested was to add more intensity to my workouts. To include short, intense bursts in my workouts ? sprint interval training, he called it. More specifically Tim told me about his favorite type of interval training ? running hill sprints.

Remember that I HATE running, but I gave it a try (without telling my dear husband, of course). But seriously, after one workout, I was hooked. All it has taken for me to lose all of my baby weight and stick to my not so great diet has been hill sprinting. I started wearing the clothes I wanted to ? and was excited to shop in all my favorite stores again.

For me the best thing about these workouts is that it takes only 15 minutes of my time, a day and two per week. I saw results within one week and I could still eat what I wanted and was losing flab! Plus, it's about as close to free as you can get. All you need is yourself and some sort of hill or stairs - and it doesn't matter what kind of shape you're in now ( because you can adjust this training to any fitness level).

Are there other ways to get back in shape? Sure, I am not saying that working out hard at the gym isn't worth it. But I know that I haven't found a more efficient, more effective way to blowtorch the blubber off than by running these sprints.

If you're a busy mom like me, with limited time but the desire to get back into pre-baby weight (no matter how many kids you've had), then I strongly suggest you give uphill fitness training a chance. Believe me, you're going to love your results. Just don't tell my husband that he was right.