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By Callie McBride
It turns out that for the past couple of years, I’ve been fooling myself about exercise. I always thought that hour long low-intensity cardio workouts were the most effective for weight loss or maintenance. It makes sense, right? The more you run, bike, or fast-walk, the better the workout is! Wrong. Recently I’ve taken the time to learn more about how the body works in regard to exercise, like how oxygen is turned into energy, how the body stores and burns fat, etc. What I learned was surprising but very exciting. Long yoga sessions, easy afternoon walks, and even sweaty bike rides are all very beneficial for weight loss and overall health, but there is one exercise that works the best and in the shortest amount of time.
HIIT, or High Intensity Interval Training, has been said over and over to be the most effective form of fat-burning cardio. The best part? Most HIIT exercises only take between 15 and 20 minutes! This exercise incorporates quick but extremely intense bursts of cardio with short periods of normal jogging or walking. HIIT produces Excess Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption, which is an increase in both your oxygen consumption and your metabolism. Since you are performing intervals at such an intense rate, your body will require a much higher level of oxygen to restore heart rate and body temperature. Translation: your body will be burning fat like crazy! It makes a lot of sense, then, that a long jog isn’t as beneficial for fat burn. While those are still important, I’m adding more HIIT routines into my exercise regimen in order to get faster results.
Here’s an awesome example of a HIIT workout that flies by, especially with fast-pumping music.
Two Minutes Off, One Minute On {20 minutes total}
0:00-2:00 if on a machine, jog at between levels 5.0 and 6.0, not necessarily an easy jog, but a manageable one
2:00-3:00 full-out sprint; between 8.0 and 9.0-as intense as you can make it!
3:00-5:00 back to the medium-paced jog
5:00-6:00 full-out sprint
6:00-8:00 jog
8:00-9:00 sprint
9:00-11:00 jog
12:00-13:00 sprint
13:00-15:00 jog
15:00-16:00 sprint
16:00-18:00 jog
18:00-20:00 cool down; fast-walk at 4.0, take it down to 3.0 at 19:00, then 2.0 for the last 30 seconds.
If I do this outside, I keep a watch with me and, when that brutal one minute “on” comes around, I sprint at my absolute fastest. Just remember to be careful with this exercise! Remember to always stay in control and definitely know your body and its limits. This is a great routine to start out with if you are new to HIIT, but you can always make up your own variations! For all those cardio pros out there, try One Minute Off, Two Minutes On!
Another type of HIIT workout is switching between fast sprints and full-body moves such as burpees, squat jacks, jumping jacks, and mountain climbers. Anything that gets your blood pumping and your heart rate moving. Come summertime pool parties and trips to the beach, your body will thank you!
Do you like HIIT workouts? Any tips?
I LOVE HIIT’S! I make a point to fit at least 3 HIIT’s into my workout schedule a week. I love how they only take 15-20 minutes too so if you really don’t have time, you still get a full workout. I do HIIT’s with a program called Turbo Fire and also Turbo Kick, which I teach. I have also done sprinting HIIT’s and I love those as well! They definitely keep the workout more engaging! One thing I have really found that helps with HIIT’s – namely the type where you move from squat jacks to burpees to mountain climbers etc, is to make sure to stay mindful of your core and keep it engaged. When I forget to do this, I start to feel it in my knees later.
Sound like a great workout. A little yoga for the knees and you are all good.
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