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30-Day Pilates Body Challenge: Day #4 (HIIT with Whitney English)
Hi Beauties!
Welcome to Day #4 of the 30-Day Pilates Body Challenge. I’m super excited to introduce you to our first guest-instructor today.
Meet Whitney English.
Whitney English is a healthy living blogger, NASM Certified Personal Trainer, and soon-to-be Registered Dietitian Nutritionist living in Los Angeles.
Here’s a little more more about her…
Whitney writes the blog To Live & Diet in L.A. where she provides easy to follow nutritional advice, fun fitness videos, and delicious, simple, original recipes. When she’s not working out (or nose deep in a textbook), you can find her eating sushi or hiking the Hollywood Hills with her dog Mr. Chow.
Today she’s leading us through a 7-minute High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) routine.
HIIT is a system of organizing cardiorespiratory training which calls for repeated bouts of short duration, high-intensity exercise intervals intermingled with periods of lower intensity intervals of active recovery.
HIIT routines provide great results in a short amount of time. Since we’re all about efficiency here at The Balanced Life it’s a perfect fit. 🙂
Why is a HIIT workout included in our Pilates challenge you may ask?
For 2 main reasons:
1. It’s good to change it up to keep our mind and muscles challenged.
2. Most importantly, I want you to take what you learn your body in Pilates off of the mat and into other activities.  While it’s great to focus on proper form/alignment/muscle activation while doing Pilates, it’s just as important to focus on these things in other areas of your life too.
Here are few Pilates cues to keep in mind as you attempt this cardio + toning workout:
- Keep your belly button drawing in, abdominal muscles engaged.
- Keep your shoulders relaxed (don’t wear them like earrings!).
- Breathe.
- Move with intention. If you need to slow down to maintain good form, be sure to do so!
You may find this workout to be challenging, and that’s okay! Modify as needed and don’t beat yourself up. This is only Day #4 and we’ve got a lot of time left to build strength, endurance and confidence.
So without further ado, enjoy your beach workout with Whitney!
You can also connect with Whitney through her blog / Twitter / Facebook / Instagram / Pinterest / and Snapchat: whitskitch
Daily Check-In: Show me your Daily Workout Checklist! 4 days down, 26 to go. Snap a photo of your Daily Workout Checklist so I can see that you’re staying on track! Use the hashtag #30daypilatesbody on Instagram and Twitter so I can cheer you on.
Cheers to the weekend!
xo,
PS – A quick reminder that tomorrow’s workout assignment will either be to go back and re-visit a favorite routine from the week (for non-Sisterhood members) OR complete the 30-minute “Waist-Whittling Workout” designed to sculpt and shape your midsection (for Sisterhood members). If you’d like access to the 30-minute routine simply CLICK HERE. See you tomorrow!
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56 thoughts on “30-Day Pilates Body Challenge: Day #4 (HIIT with Whitney English)”
Hi Robin
Thats sounds challenging and great.
But I cant watch it on youtube. It says its a privat clip…
Selina
Problem solved! It should be working now. 🙂
Thank you 🙂 I
Good morning Robin.
Unable to access day 4, every time I try to load it a notice appears saying ” please sign in to view this video”
Going to redo Day one and three instead!
Have a lovely Friday.
Jacqui xx
HI Jacqui! It should be public now. Let me know if you still have trouble. 🙂
These videos are amazing! Thank you for introducing me to Pilates ?
Done day 4 whew
Thank you. I left my breath back at the mountain climbers but that’s OK I kept it going. Can’t wait to see what Day 5 brings.
Great HIIT workout this morning, thank you!
I love cardio but I find it doesn’t love my feet. My ankles and feet are on fire after cardio/Zumba, any tips you could pass on?
I’ve heard a raised ball/curve under the center of the foot helps, so I did wear orthotics with this for today’s workout. But, by the end of the workout I was feeling the same sensation.
Thanks,
Erin
Hi Erin! It’s hard for me to know for sure without knowing your specific situation. Off the top of my head I would recommend nice supportive shoes and perhaps even skipping the jumping altogether. You can march in place instead and still get a great workout. 🙂
no thanks. I signed up for pilates. last year was SO much better. I get plenty of cardio. What happened to the focus on the core?
Hi Becky! Many of the exercises in this workout are great for the core! And the point is to learn how to engage your core no matter what you’re doing. We’ll be back to regular Pilates tomorrow. I welcome feedback but request that you be kind in your delivery. Thank you!
Just noticed the sisterhood site. Perhaps I will sign up for that. Can I still get the free videos?
Hi Becky – yes if you join The Sisterhood you still get access to all of the free videos as well. 🙂
Whew…Great workout!!! … done
Not what I was expecting this morning, but I liked it. My chest is still burning. lol
That was great!
This was AWESOME! Loved it thanks Robin & Whitney!
This was tough, but I did it. Day 4 is done 🙂
Awesome!! Day 4 done!!
Thank you for shaking things up and having us do this today! I don’t know much about Pilates but I’m enjoying everything you’re posting! Have a great day!
Done
Wow!! Im breathing heavy. Nice change of pace though. Thank you!!
Whew! I loved this. In a love/hate way, haha. Helped me realize that while I’m building so much muscle through Pilates im neglecting my cardio, I think SHORT HIIT workouts will be a new addition to my week.
I couldn’t think of any if the cues you mentioned bc I was so busy trying not to die. I’m gonna repeat this tomorrow <– I'm just that self loathing. Tomorrow I'll see if I can manage to relax my shoulders !
Thanks so much. What a fun week
Had to improvise. With bad knee could not keep doing some of the cardiovascular routines. Day 4 done.
*WHEW* I did 5 minutes 😉
Wow! Just finished cardio workout. It was great! My 5 yr old grandson did it with me and he was out of breath. Now we will move on to yoga to stretch out. Thanks for the great program Robin.
Great workout! I have been able to do all four days so far whenever I can fit it in the day. Love it. Thanks!! Need to work on drinking more water. Good job everyone!
Day 4 woo-hoo what fun! Loved it. Cooling down with parts from days 1-3!
I really had to modify this days workout. My legs don’t want to move that fast and especially my right knee, old injury and re-injuries ..I don’t want to strain it.
I am trying to access day 4 video but there is no link to it. Only pictures with the option to pin to pinterest.
Hi Julie! I’m seeing it just fine. You may need to drive a different browser? 🙂
Whew! That’s how to work up a sweat first thing in the morning! Feeling good!
just saying- this was crazy for someone just starting out. I would expect something like this later in the month….
Whew!
Day 4 in the books!!
I love these workouts so much I joined the sisterhood 🙂
Thank you – waist whittling is amazing – hope to get back into shape with your help
Love these workouts – joined the sisterhood 🙂
Waist whittling is amazing
I hope to get back into shape with your help
done.
Day4 done
Done! The squats and lunges were similar to what my Sat. morning bodyworks instructor teaches…very effective! My knees don’t handle running on land that well so I switched to fast marching. I run, do jumping jacks, leg kicks, and frog hops in the pool during my own water aerobics routine. Water is 12x more resistant than air and is more forgiving on joints. I also wear Ryka water aerobic shoes so that my feet have some cushioning. Thus, an effective HIIT routine can be done in the pool, too.
That was an awesome workout! I am glad that you are including cardio in the challenge; It’s such a great compliment to pilates.
Phew… Day 4 complete..a few minor modifications… I was surprised though…I thought that it was a bit more advanced than I would have expected so early on and with many of the comments I have been reading on the Facebook page it appears there are many that are new to Pilates and/or getting back on track with fitness…that being said… she was super friendly, easy to follow and I imagine for some it was a great workout…I also would recommend the “modifications” be introduced earlier in the set vs closer to the end so that one doesn’t feel discouraged or like they didn’t complete the set properly… kind regards… onward to Day 5…
Great workout! Thank you.
holy cow!!!
Day 4 done!
Day 4 complete!
Finished it ??
Day 4 Done
Just completed day 4 on day 5! Love this workout and will return to it again! Now on to do day 5. Thank you!
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Done. Thanks!!!
Done and repeted!!
Just wanted to say I really like the variety and I was happy to see this HIIT workout.
Done! Whew, I’m winded (and clearly out of shape! ?)
Done?