15 Min Power Workout

Today is a great day to start a new healthy lifestyle by starting with one thing, then celebrate that you accommplished it!  Complete this workout 3 times this week, alternating days works great!

5 minute warm-up: Start with a walk or any form of cardio exercise just to get your heart rate up and to loosen up your muscles.

Workout - Choose any form of cardio exercise you enjoy for each time block below.  Examples: walk, run, skip, jump, hop, jumping jacks, dance, elliptical, bike, swim, hike, etc. 
Use the Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE) levels to help you guage your intensity levels.  I will explain how you should feel at each level.  Recover between each level to where your breathing pattern becomes regular and you can talk (RPE level 5-6).
(Repeat the whole set twice as long as your heart rate recovers between each level)

• 1 minute - you can maintain this pace for quite sometime but it is still difficult for you (RPE level 7)
• 45 seconds - intense enough that your breathing is heavier and you can talk, but would rather not ( RPE level 8)
• 30 seconds  - increase your speed or difficulty so that you can't talk and you can only continue for a small period of time (RPE level 9)
• 15 seconds - Go all out! Your breathing is fast and you give it all you have. You can't maintain for longer than 1 minute.  (RPE level 10)

5 minute cool-down:  Keep moving until you feel like your heart rate decreases and you feel "recovered".

Stretch!  The whole workout will only take you 15 - 30 minutes depending on how  long  your recovery times are, so no excuses, you are worth 15 minutes a day!