Interval Cardio Burns More Fat – HIIT

You may have heard someone call it HIIT for short, but it’s also know as High Intensity Interval Training and I happen to think it’s the best form of cardio you can do if you want to speed up your metabolism and lose some extra weight.

What is Interval Training?

Interval Training is when you alternate from low intensity to high intensity training in the same workout. You can do this by adjusting your speed or intensity of your cardio workout. The great thing about HIIT is that you don’t have to spend an hour or two doing cardio anymore, you can just do 20 minutes at a time. Trust me, if you’re doing it right, 20 minutes will be enough.

What are the benefits of HIIT?

As I just mentioned, you don’t have to waste so much time doing a boring run in order to burn a bunch of calories. The way HIIT benefits you is by speeding up your metabolism, which help you to burn more calories for the next few hours while you’re going about your day. If you’re like me, your time is very precious to you. You don’t have time to do an hour every day, but I bet you’ll be able to find 20 minutes.

Sprints

Also, don’t forget that your heart is a muscle and it needs to be worked out, just like your biceps. The best way to build strength is to try to lift heavier weight each time. The same applies for your heart, it needs to be challenged. If you take a walk on the treadmill once every couple days, you’re not really challenging your heart, therefore, your heart isn’t truly getting any stronger. Just like anything else, you’ll have to do some work. All I’m saying is, you don’t have to work as long as you think.

Here’s how I know it works for me. Before last year my workouts consisted of mostly endurance training. I ran full and half marathons, logging upwards of 50 to 60 miles a week. Then I moved on to triathlons, where I’d have to swim in the morning, bike in the evening and alternate runs in there as well. Don’t get me wrong, I did enjoy competing in triathlons, but it almost became a job to find the time in my day to train. Some days I’d workout maybe 2 to 3 hours. Yes, I looked “good”, but did it have to be so much work to look and feel good?  The answer is no!

What do I do now?

6 Weeks until the Men’s Physique Competition.

Keep in mind, I’m also training for a Men’s Physique competition in November and my goal is to lose 2 pounds a week until then, but you’ll be surprised how little I do. Now my training consists of lifting weights,  4 to 5 times a week for 45 minutes. I try to lift heavy, but I don’t ever feel the need to kill myself. It’s more about form then weight for me. As it should be for you. I understand that some of you have no desire to ever pick up a weight and that’s fine. It just so happens to be something I enjoy doing, but the weight training is not what made the biggest difference for me. It was HIIT. Once I introduced HIIT into my training regimen, 3 to 4 days a week, I noticed an amazing shift in my body composition. The excess weight just started to fall off. Yes, diet plays a huge role in my success, but HIIT is what speeds up the process exponentially. I’ll talk more about diet in another post.

If you don’t believe me, just try it for yourself. Don’t waste another hour of walking on the treadmill with your favorite magazine. If you can read during your cardio workout, you’re probably not working hard enough.

Basic HIIT Cardio Workout

5 Minute Warm Up (Pace you can easily handle)
30 Second of Increased Speed (70% Max Speed)
2 Minutes of Decreased Speed
30 Second of Increased Speed (75% Max Speed)
2 Minutes of Decreased Speed
30 Second of Increased Speed (80% Max Speed)
2 Minutes of Decreased Speed
30 Second of Increased Speed (85% Max Speed)
2 Minutes of Decreased Speed
30 Second of Increased Speed (90% Max Speed)
2 Minutes of Decreased Speed
30 Second of Increased Speed (95% Max Speed)
2 Minutes of Decreased Speed
5 Minute Cool Down

Keep in mind, this might be really difficult for you the first time. That’s okay! Feel free to adjust this workout to make it easier or harder depending on your ability.

Example of Rob’s HIIT Workout

3 Minute Warm Up Jog
1 Minute Moderate Sprint
15 Burpees (15 Second Break)
1 Minute Moderate Sprint
14 Burpees (16 Second Break)
1 Minute Moderate Sprint
13 Burpees (17 Second Break)
1 Minute Moderate Sprint
12 Burpees (18 Second Break)
1 Minute Moderate Sprint
11 Burpees (19 Second Break)
1 Minute Moderate Sprint
10 Burpees (20 Second Break)
1 Minute Moderate Sprint
9 Burpees (21 Second Break)
1 Minute Moderate Sprint
8 Burpees (22 Second Break)
1 Minute Moderate Sprint
7 Burpees (23 Second Break)
3 Minute Cool Down

You might be asking why I don’t take the burpees all the way down to one rep. Well I don’t have to. If I stop at 7 burpees, I’m at 21 minutes. Combined with my cool down, I’m looking at 24 minutes of interval cardio. Besides, I’m spent by the end! If you’re wondering where I do this, it’s on a treadmill. I do prefer to run on the street, but the convenience of the treadmill is too much to pass up. You might also be wondering why I take such odd break times. Well, it comes down to the minute that I jump off the treadmill and how long it takes me to do said amount of burpees. I can usually get 15 done in roughly 45 seconds. So a 15 second break is about right for how much rest I get. The moderate sprint is set at either an 8.5 or 9 mph speed. I know that might not seem moderate to some, but that happens to be where I fall if I want to be able to slightly catch my breath after the burpees.

I hope this helps some of you. If you have any questions about what you’re doing and/or how to improve your HIIT workout, shoot me an email and I’ll be happy to give you my advice.

Here’s another interesting blog post about HIIT Workouts that you might want to read.
Fat Burning Man