The world of 'cardio training' has become a place where people seem to be stuck into simply running three times a week on a treadmill, being bored to tears, and giving up their routine in record time after they begin. The reason for this is: old-fashioned cardio workouts are boring!
The calculations and formulas that dominate the world of fat loss are complicated, and restrict the fitness world to those that have the time to sit down and calculate these. The real secret to losing weight through cardio, and in particular, high intensity interval training (HIIT), is to create a workout which includes elements that you enjoy doing, whether it is running, boxing, or anything that will help you achieve results.
High intensity interval training is a great way to not only burn calories at the time, but you also manage to burn calories up to 48 hours after you finish the workout. Your metabolism, due to post-exercise oxygen consumption, is elevated for the rest of the day – while you sit at your desk, drive the children around, or sit on the train for your commute.
Forget the extended workouts, the 30 minutes of running on a treadmill, then a further 30-40 minutes of weights – you can get your workout done in about 45 minutes.
For example: If you ENJOY running on the treadmill, first warm up with a jog, or a jump rope to get you in the mindset for exercise, try a minute on a slow run, then the second minute at a higher setting, the third at an even higher setting, then drop back down to the original setting.
This can also be done outside. For example, you could jog for a minute, sprint for a minute, then resume the jog for a minute. Repeat until your legs are screaming for mercy and you can be sure that this workout wasn't a walk in the park and that you ARE burning body fat.
If you enjoy boxing, HIIT can also be achieved with rounds on a boxing bag. If you are relatively inexperienced at training with a boxing bag, you could do 1-2 minute rounds, punching hard and fast will sure allow you to work up a sweat. Keep your hands up as a guard and imagine you are fighting an intruder in your home, every time you hit the bag. This is how the best athletes and guys and gals who are in the best shape get that way – they use their mind to drive their body to it's peak performance.
Here is some more good news: High Intensity Interval Training workouts can be adjusted for ANY fitness level, for ANY piece of exercise equipment. Dumbbells, barbells, even just a single weight plate can be used for what are normally thought to be traditional weight lifting exercises to burn fat. Think of a typical bodybuilder who does a clean and press (a move where you lift a barbell off the floor, hoist it up to your shoulders and then press it over head. He may do 5 sets of 5 reps, and it may be hard work.
For an extreme HIIT workout you can combine workouts such as the clean and press with something such as prisoner squats. These are a bodyweight exercise – but don't knock them until you have tried them.
Here is a sample HIIT workout with these two exercises:
-Pick a weight you can easily throw around for at least 12 reps of overhead pressing.
-Clean and press this weight for 10 reps then,
-Do 50 prisoner squats (freestanding squats where your hands are clasped behind your head).
Repeating this for just 20 minutes with a 1 minute rest inbetween will be 5 times more effective than running for 20 minutes.
This is why:
-You are gaining strength, which creates a lean, strong and healthy (not to mention sexy) body.
-You are burning fat during the workout, but you are also elevating your metabolism so you continue burning fat for up to 2 days after your workout
-These are practical movements which will help in everyday life – lifting things overhead and squatting down are movements where a LOT of people injure themselves. This is practically a manual on how to prevent yourself getting injured from mundane activities like hanging out the washing.
This will enable your body to break from the dreaded 'plateau' that happens with fat loss, muscle gain, and fitness. You will begin to kick-start your body into losing fat again, and the after-effects will enable you to continue to burn calories after your workout is finished. How many personal trainers can promise you that?
If you are wanting to lose fat, the duration of the interval should be on average 60 seconds, with approximately 12-20 minutes of intervals. With fitness the law of diminshing returns applies, but don't be fooled into thinking this means you shouldn't workout hard and for a decent time period.
Remember, a 10 minute HIIT workout is better than nothing, but the same workout if it lasts for 30 minutes will be better. A 45 minute HIIT workout is not for the faint hearted and only experienced guys and gals can keep up intensity for these periods of time.
Any exercise that lasts over an hour sees fat loss and muscle gaining benefits decline rapidly.
So, as you can see, High Intensity interval Training is a great way to begin exercising, as long as you are sensible, and work your way up to a harder workout. This style of fat burning is also good for experienced fitness junkies, as you can simply increase the length of time of the intervals, and the time that you train for.
Everyone can make time for a workout like this – 45 minutes, three times a week, with great results. Who wouldn't want that?
Johnny Palmer is a fitness writer, trainer, practitioner & official nut case. He is known for fighting against the idiots who promote fad diets, odd exercise contraptions and other garbage that doesn't produce results. He specializes in showing you how to get abs, stay lean and still live a great life, without having to become a fitness geek. His method is the best way to lose belly fat for anybody who wants to get in fighting fit, sexy, beach ready shape.
Monday, April 16, 2012 at 11:25AM