Krista Stryker - Get Fitter, Faster, and Stronger Using HIIT and Your Bodyweight

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This publication contains the opinions and ideas of its author. It is intended to provide helpful and informative material on the subjects addressed in the publication. It is sold with the understanding that the author and publisher are not engaged in rendering medical, health, or any other kind of personal professional services in the book. The reader should consult his or her medical, health, or other competent professional before adopting any of the suggestions in this book or drawing inferences from it.

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Copyright 2020 by Krista Stryker

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First Tiller Press trade paperback edition March 2020

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Photographs on by Katana Triplett.

Interior design by Jennifer Chung

Cover design by Patrick Sullivan

Cover photo by Tamara Muth-King

Author photo by Tamara Muth-King

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Stryker, Krista, author.

Title: The 12-minute athlete : get fitter, faster, and stronger using HIIT and your bodyweight / Krista Stryker.

Other titles: Twelve-minute athlete : get fitter, faster, and stronger using high intensity interval training and your bodyweight

Description: First Tiller Press trade paperback edition. | New York : Tiller Press, 2020. | Includes index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2019049593 (print) | LCCN 2019049594 (ebook) | ISBN 9781982136482 (paperback) | ISBN 9781982136499 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Interval training. | Weight training. | Nutrition.

Classification: LCC GV481 .S769 2020 (print) | LCC GV481 (ebook) | DDC 613.7dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019049593

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019049594

ISBN 978-1-9821-3648-2

ISBN 978-1-9821-3649-9 (ebook)

To my parents, for showing me the joy of an active lifestyle

W hat if I told you that you could ditch your gym membership and give up using weights or cardio machines foreverand still get in the best shape of your life? And what if I also told you that you could get your entire workout done in under twenty minutesand get fitter, faster, and stronger than you ever thought possible?

To most people that sounds crazymaybe even impossible. Most people think they have to spend hours in a gym, five days a week, to reach their fitness goals. But most people are wrong.

Most health-conscious people are used to equating exercise with long and boring gym sessions that last at least an hour, if not more. And I am no stranger to this mind-setI used to be a part of this long workouts are better camp, too, back in the days when Id force myself to spend upward of two hours a day meticulously getting in my cardio and strength training workouts, only to feel like it was never enough. I absolutely hated it, but I did it anyway. I thought that spending more time exercising was the only way to get into great shape.

But just because you are used to something doesnt mean you should accept thats how it has to be.

Heres the truth: longer workouts arent necessarily better. In fact, longer workouts can actually be less effective than shorter ones for many reasons. And your long workouts may be the real reason that you are not in the incredible shape you want to be in, or the reason that you cant seem to keep a consistent workout schedule.

Thats where high-intensity interval training (HIIT) comes in.

Lets make things clearHIIT is not a magic pill. It isnt exactly easy, either. In fact, its actually really, really tough. During HIIT-style workouts, you are going to have to work harder than you ever imagined. In order to meet your goals, youre going to have to constantly push yourself past your comfort zone. Its not for the weak of heart. But if you can push yourself, if you can push past those mental blocks and tell yourself you can do this, HIIT can get you in better shape than ever beforeand all in less than fifteen minutes. No gym required.

You dont need any equipment to get stronger and fitterbut if you want to add a few tools to your training regimen, you can use a basic pull-up bar, a set of parallel bars (or a dip bar equivalent), a plyo box or sturdy elevated surface (a bench or some stairs work perfectly), and a jump rope. Although these pieces of equipment are probably the least used at the gym (and seriously, what typical gym even has a jump rope?), they are by far the most versatile and most effective pieces of workout equipment you will ever use.

Simple metal bars offer a lifetime of challenges, from pull-ups, to triceps dips, to leg raises, to more advanced exercises like muscle-ups and the elusive one-arm pull-up. These types of exercises are typically known as calisthenics or bodyweight exercises. When doing them, you utilize your own bodyweight along with gravity to constantly challenge your fitness level. Calisthenics exercises have a lot in common with gymnastics exercises, but unlike formal gymnastics, anyone of any age, fitness level, or ability can benefit from adding calisthenics exercises to their regular workout routine.

When it comes to getting your heart rate up, the humble jump rope will do more to keep you coordinated and athletically fit than any machine at the gym will. It also functions as a portable piece of cardio equipment you can take with you anywhere and everywhere (unlike a treadmill or elliptical machine).

Using your own bodyweight, in addition to these simple pieces of equipment used by calisthenics masters, means youll have enough to keep pushing the boundaries of your fitness for life.

I am about to tell you how you can get in the best shape of your life using nothing more than your own bodyweight, a couple of bars, and a five-dollar jump rope. Whether your personal fitness goal is to get stronger and leaner, to do your first pull-up, to look better naked, or to live a longer, healthier, and happier life and be able to keep up with your grandchildren, you now have the tools in front of you to reach every goal youve ever dreamed of.

If you follow my plan, you will achieve the impossible and become the athlete you were always meant to be. But I cant force you to work outultimately it is up to you to put in the hard work.