The Secret Trick To Rapidly Increase Your Metabolism
If you’re someone who is looking to enhance fat loss and take your fitness to a whole new level, one particular type of workout you have to try is something referred to high intensity interval training, or HIIT for short.
HIIT is rapidly becoming the most popular way to burn fat and shorten up your workouts and for good reason – it works. Many people who are tired of spending hours slaving away on cardio machines for what seems like eternity are quickly jumping onto the HIIT bandwagon and making the most of what this workout has to offer.
If you haven’t yet started a good high intensity interval training routine, it’s time that you did so let’s outline for you exactly what this workout is all about and how to go about including it in your overall workout approach.
What HIIT Is
High intensity interval training is essentially a form of cardio training where you’re going to alternate all out periods of exercise with brief ‘active rest’ periods that allow the body to recover.
There is no set rule as to how long you have to make the work and rest periods during HIIT, but you do have to be making sure that you’re working at a very high effort. The longer the work period is, the slightly lower intensity you’ll be working at, but regardless you still must be pushing hard.
To illustrate this using an example, you may decide you’d like to perform intervals of 60 seconds in length, taking them a bit longer. For this length, aim to work at an intensity level of about 8 or 9 out of 10.
If you’re going to shorten the intervals down to 20 or 30 seconds, then you’ll be looking to go full out with an intensity of 10 out of 10. Since you’re going for such a brief period of time, you want to work at maximum exertion level.
When assessing the active rest period to use between the intervals, here again, this will vary depending on the length of the intensity. If you’re performing an interval that’s any longer than 45 seconds in length, your rest period should be exactly the same length.
If you’re using an interval less than 45 seconds, since the intensity is going to come up, double the active rest period.
Here are a few guidelines to follow:
Interval Length: Active Rest Length
60 seconds 60 seconds
45 seconds 45 seconds
30 seconds 60 seconds
20 seconds 40 seconds (some may even take this up to 60 seconds if necessary)
You’ll want to perform between five to ten of these intervals depending on your skill level, making sure to add in a five minute warm-up and cool down at the start and finish.
The Benefits Of High Intensity Interval Training
So what are the benefits of this style of training?
As we’ve already pointed out, they’re quick to do. Each session should only last 15-25 minutes, so you’ll be in and out of the gym in no time.
Secondly, studies have also confirmed that this form of training is far more beneficial for decreasing body fat mass and for also increasing the metabolism in the hours after the workout is finished.
One study that was published in the Metabolism journal had two different groups of subjects participate in one of two exercise programs, a 15 week program of endurance training and a 15 week program in high-intensity training.
Once the results were in it was demonstrated that despite the fact that the endurance training group burned over twice as many calories during the actual workout session (since it was much longer), the group that performed the interval training lost nine times as much body fat.
Remember, total body fat loss is going to come down to how many calories you burn over a 24 hour period, not just how many calories you burn during an actual workout session and this is where interval training shines.
So if an interval training workout helps you burn more calories for the remainder of the day, this is going to make it far superior as far as evoking that fat loss response goes.
Finally, interval training, being as intense as it is, is really going to enhance your total ability to perform at higher intensities without suffering from a high level of fatigue. If you want to get in shape quickly, this is the form of workout to complete.
Adding High Intensity Interval Training To Your Workout Sessions
So if you’ve decided that yes, HIIT is something that you must start doing immediately, you need to be wise in how you go about adding it to your workout routine.
One thing that you must note is that this form of cardio will be a lot more stressful on your central nervous system, so it’s not one that you can perform multiple times per week along with numerous weight lifting workout sessions.
If you do that, you’ll be quick to burnout and begin to overtrain.
Two to three times per week will definitely be sufficient to help get fat loss moving along nicely provided you’re also doing weight lifting training two to three times per week as well.
You should ideally aim to have at least one day off each week, if not two to promote proper recovery.
Always perform your interval training after a light meal consisting of both carbohydrates and protein as this will give the muscles the fuel they need to complete the session.
Your HIIT Routine
So now that you know the in’s and out’s of high intensity interval training, let’s show you your workout routine.
This would be suitable for someone who’s in fairly good shape and already has a good cardiovascular base behind them. You can choose your favourite mode of cardio for this workout, however running outdoors typically does work best as it’s easy to accelerate and decelerate as needed.
5 minute warm-up
45 seconds @ RPE 8
45 seconds @ RPE 4
45 seconds @ RPE 8
45 seconds @ RPE 4
30 seconds @ RPE 9
60 seconds @ RPE 4
30 seconds @ RPE 9
60 seconds @ RPE 4
20 seconds @ RPE 10
60 seconds @ RPE 3
5 minute cool-down
So next time you’re headed to the gym for a cardio workout, give some serious thought to interval training. It really is the far superior method to shed body fat fast and get into the best shape of your life.
Reference:
Bouchard, C., Simoneau, J.A. & Tremblay, A. (1994). Impact of exercise intensity on body fatness and skeletal muscle metabolism. Metabolism. Vol. 43, Issue 7. Pp. 814-818.
