Burn Fat! High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) - By: Trainermike

What if I told you there is a way you can burn more calories and spend less time in the gym. You would think this is one of those infomercials right with some bull gadget or magic pill. Nope, I am talking about High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). With High Intensity Interval Training you can burn more fat while spending less time in the gym. I will explain how you can get the best results from this type of cardiovascular training.

Burn more fat by doing less cardio? How can this be. Well, with High Intensity Interval Training (also known as HIIT) you can do just that, burn more fat while spending less time in the gym. I must warn you this isn't the type of training where you can do 30 minutes and read your book or kindle at the same time. So put the book or kindle down and let's get to work!

I am sure you have heard that in order to burn fat you need to do 20-60 minutes of cardio. You can do 3 hours of cardio but if you do not increase the intensity level you are setting yourself to fail. Don't just go through the motions. Yes, doing 20-60 minutes will burn fat but why not get the most out of your training.

Here Is How HIIT Works

A typical HIIT session should only last you from 15-30 minutes because of the intensity. The key is burning the most amount of calories in a short period of time.

I will show you a beginner and advanced training session.

Here's What You Do:

Beginner

Pick the cardio machine of your choice (treadmill, elliptical, rower, bike, swimming) and perform a 5 minute warm-up.

Then take time to stretch properly and you are ready to begin.

Start at a moderate pace for 1 minute, then crank up the pace to 80 or 85% of your Maximum Heart Rate (MHR). You should then be jogging or fast-paced walking now.

Continue at this effort for 30 seconds to a minute, then slow down to your starting pace for another minute followed by another jog or fast-paced walk for 30 seconds to 1 minute.

Do this for 15-30 minutes.

After that finish your workout by cooling down for 5 minutes and thoroughly stretch afterwards.

Advanced

Pick the cardio machine of your choice (treadmill, elliptical, rower, bike, swimming) and perform a 5 minute warm-up.

Then take time to stretch properly and you are ready to begin.

Start at a moderate pace for 15 to 20 seconds, then crank up the pace to 90 or 95% of your Maximum Heart Rate (MHR). This will have you running or sprinting now.

Continue at this effort for 15 to 20 seconds, then slow down to your starting pace for another minute followed by another all-out sprint for 15 to 20 seconds.

Do this for no more than 20 minutes.

After that finish your workout by cooling down for 5 minutes and thoroughly stretch afterwards.

If you perform this right I guarantee that you will be totally exhausted after 20 minutes of this.

Benefits Of HIIT

A study at Laval University in Quebec, Canada found that HIIT cardio helped trainees loose nine more fat than those who trained the traditional way (moderate speed for 20-60 minutes). This study is just one reason why you should combine HIIT with your weight program and boost your metabolism!

Here Is Why HIIT Is So Successful:

If you train this way then you will raise your body's metabolism throughout the entire day!
Why is that good? Well the more calories that you burn in a day, the more weight you are able to lose. That is just what you want to hear if you are trying to lose weight. Even if weight loss is not your goal, HIIT is for you. Athletes will see better gains from doing HIIT cardio as opposed to traditional cardio.
High Intensity workouts such as weight training and HIIT boost growth hormone levels.

High Intensity training is also great for certain sports. Such sports whether it be soccer or football, even baseball or basketball have a stop, start pace and sometimes an all out sprint is involved. You need to be able to shift gears quickly in these sports so HIIT will benefit athletes also. Not only will you increase your cardiovascular endurance, but improve your raw speed and explosiveness as well!

My Final Thoughts

High Intensity Interval Training will provides a more effective workout in much less time! Everyone can benefit from HIIT cardio, whether it be the person who is trying to lose weight or the professional football player training for the upcoming NFL season! Give HIIT a try and say goodbye to bodyfat!

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About the Author

Mike has been helping people reach their fitness goals for over 15 years. You can get other great tips from Mike at: Exercise and Nutrition Tips

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