My first green smoothie experience

Some of you may think this is taking things a bit too far – I know my boyfriend does – but there are only so many healthy living blogs you can read without thinking you should at least try a green smoothie. So, about a week ago I made a pineapple and kale smoothie.

I wouldn’t recommend it. I had to treat myself to a very strong coffee to get over the experience!

You’d have thought that would be enough to put me off trying any more green smoothie recipes, but I don’t give up that easily. On Sunday morning, I made a banana, mango and spinach smoothie. My boyfriend begged me not to waste any more food on this crazy experiment but I did it anyway and luckily it was OK. Actually, it was surprisingly nice, so I thought I’d share the recipe in case anyone else fancies giving this green smoothie thing a try.

How to make it:

Take 1 banana, 1 mango and around 2 handfuls of spinach. Whizz them up with some filtered water (depending on how thick you like your smoothies). And there you go.

I didn’t bother taking a photo because it didn’t look all that appetising, but believe me, it tasted good. I’m going to browse some green smoothie sites to see if I can find some more recipes. Let me know if you have any good green smoothie recipes worth sharing.

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Business launch: Sarah Thorp, Personal Trainer and Dance Specialist

As I mentioned in my blog post last week, I’ve been busy setting up a new business. I’m sure you’ve all been eagerly awaiting the big reveal (!!) so here it is, my new website: www.sarahthorpfitness.co.uk

Based in the Banbury and Oxford area, I am a trained dancer and qualified personal trainer with over 10 years’ experience working in the fitness industry. If you want to lose weight and tone up, improve general fitness or train for a specific sport or activity, I am here to help.

I specialise in sports fitness and conditioning for dance and offer a range of services from group classes to personal training and private dance lessons, as well as nutritional advice and sports massage therapy.

I’m just about to launch two exciting new classes: Barre Fit and Sport Fit, so if you happen to live in the Banbury or Oxford area or know anyone who does, please check out my website and spread the word.

You can contact me about any of my services on here or via email at contact@sarahthorpfitness.co.uk

And that’s my shameless self-promotion done for the day. I hope to hear from some of you very soon. Wish me luck!

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Tabata training – how to get a workout in just 4 minutes

Once again I’ve neglected my blog for far too long, but in my defence I’ve been planning my new business (more to come on this soon) and creating a children’s picture book with my sister, which is very nearly finished. It’s all been very exciting!

With all this going on, I’m sure I’d be forgiven for taking a step back from my normal fitness routine but I just can’t go more than a few days without exercise, which is why I’m a big fan of Tabata training at the moment. If you haven’t heard of it, it’s a form of high intensity interval training (HIIT). I’ve been incorporating high intensity intervals into my workouts for years – and have written about them on here before – but I’ve always felt that anything less than 40 seconds for a high intensity period was cheating.

I was wrong! Tabata intervals are only 20 seconds long with a 10 second rest. It doesn’t sound like much and I admit to being a little sceptical at first, but the idea is that you work those 20 seconds to complete exhaustion, then take 10 seconds rest and then go straight back into 20 seconds HIGH, HIGH, HIGH intensity. You repeat this 8 times. Believe me, if you’re working it like you should be, those last few sets are a killer!

Traditional Tabata training consists of just 4 minutes of work (8 rounds of 20 seconds work with 10 seconds rest) and according to research this is all you need to increase your aerobic and anaerobic fitness. This article explains it really well. Personally, I love the theory behind all of this but I’m not going to be satisfied by just 4 minutes of exercise no matter how hard-core it is. I might be pushed for time but I still enjoy my workouts and I want them to last a bit longer than 4 minutes, so guided by the fantastic KT Chaloner at GymCube.com, I’ve been doing Tabata classes in which you do 4 or 5 sets of the 4 minute workout with a short break in between each one. I have to say, I’m loving it and I feel fantastic!

So if you’re looking for something to spice up your workouts or you just want to see what all the hype is about, give Tabata a go. It’s not easy but it’s worth it.

Good luck and let me know how you get on.

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