Want to burn fat while you sleep? Would you rather be in short term “pain” and reap the long-term benefits than doing a load of boring workouts?
Then HIIT – high intensity cardio – is for you.
Let’s look at why it’s our choice too when we’re looking at training with a client and how their fitness workout session (and their body) will benefit from having high intensity cardio over other types of cardio in the gym.
What is it?
HIIT is the process of taking a regular cardio exercise and supercharging it. You move from a steady state cardio monotony and move to energising yourself and burning fat fast.
Let’s say that you like and are used to the bike for your cardio workouts. Well, you jump on the bike as you normally would, but you then do sets of going really fast and then periods in between of going a lot more slow and steady.
Keeping the periods to 15 seconds fast and 30 seconds slowly will help you get used to the varying pace that you should keep doing this type of exercise.
You can do the same with the rowing machine if you want, but it isn’t advisable on a treadmill because speeding up and down quickly isn’t really all that possible. If you’ve decided on sprinting/running as your HIIT exercise then head outside and get a small hill: sprint up it and then jog back down it in short sprints. You’ll start to feel the burn in now time.
Why is interval training important?
Because it works. If you ask anyone who has a lot of experience helping people lose weight in the Lancashire area then you’ll find that nine times out of ten they will say that some form of HIIT was used in a person’s workout programme.
You don’t have to use it, but it’s going to provide more benefit to you than you can imagine. So, it’s going to be super helpful when you imagine what you need to do in the gym to burn that fat off your body.
What if you’re out of shape?
If you haven’t been to the gym in a while or you’re used to going in for half an hour once in a while and having a walk on the treadmill then you might find it tough in the beginning.
It isn’t for the faint hearted, but that doesn’t mean that HIIT is bad. It isn’t. It will challenge you and you’ll want to give up – mostly why we recommend doing it with your personal trainer in Lancashire over doing it on your own – because its intention is to burn as much fat as possible in a short space of time.
That does mean completing the exercises can be a challenge and you may want to give up. So, getting some encouraging words might just be what you need.
Instead of your programme or part of it?
We often get asked whether interval training should replace your complete fitness programme or complement it. And we’d have to agree with many other fitness professionals that you want to use HIIT in addition to your regular workout regime.
Adding in 30 to 40-minute HIIT sessions 1-3 times a week in addition to your regular weight training programme, especially if your goal is fat loss.
And, with weight training, your body isn’t going to be burning much fat during your workout. It’s the 12 or so hours afterwards that will have the most effect in this department. Your body will keep metabolising and ensure you have the maximum impact you can on using the excess stored fat you have in your body.
If you’re looking to burn some fat after you’ve overindulged or things just aren’t progressing as quickly as you’d like then we’d suggest using High Intensity cardio as a way of burning through your weight and reducing those numbers on the scales.