There was a time when endurance training was all the rage, and if you want a lean, runner’s physique it’s still a great bet, but these days it’s all about Interval Training, and in particular High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). This is all about short bursts of high intensity activity that get your heart racing, followed by short periods of rest, and it’s stunningly effective!
Interval Training Can Be Done Anywhere
It doesn’t matter if you’re on the move all the time and have to work out in hotels and motels, or if you have a small apartment without a spare room for exercise equipment. HIIT workouts can be completed anywhere; it doesn’t really matter what you do, so long as it gets your heart racing. This means you can adapt your Interval Training workout to your needs on a day to day basis.
Say goodbye to expensive equipment
Although you can add a HIIT element to exercises on the static bike, treadmill, or rowing machine such trappings are not necessary to complete an effective workout. In fact, some of the most effective Interval Training routines can be completed using only bodyweight based exercises like lunges, squats, and push ups. It’s about the effort you put in, not what you have to work with.
An efficient way to get fit
HIIT training programmes are perfect for those who have limited space or hectic schedules. Just twenty minutes of interval training can be as effective as an hour on the treadmill, and the results you get are pretty amazing. If completed three times a week for two to three weeks you could see the same results as six to eight weeks of endurance training!
Burn More Fat
The key is in the way it makes your body work; interval training increases the amount of calories and fat burned beyond the work out. In fact your body’s baseline calorie burn could be raised for as much as a full day after your workout ends.
Lose Fat, Not Muscle
It is very common to lose muscle mass along with fat (sometimes instead of it) when you diet rigorously, and endurance training only exacerbates this. One of the great benefits of interval training is the fact that you can hold onto your hard won muscle and still lose stored fat.
Boost your Metabolism
Employing HIIT interval training as a part of your weekly workouts can have long lasting effects; studies have shown that production of your human growth hormone (HGH) is stimulated up to 450% by HIIT workouts. The benefits of this are an increased metabolic rate, and even the combating of the aging process.
Interval Training Keeps you concentrated
HIIT is, and is meant to be, a completely absorbing, challenging work out so don’t expect that you’ll be able to watch catch-up TV or chat with your workout buddy throughout. Of course, the upside is that this is a much shorter process to go through than the average gym session.
So, why not change up your normal routine with some HIIT training? You could see the results much quicker than you ever expected!
