If you have never heard of HIIT then prepare for a total shift in how you see conditioning for fat loss. HIIT stands for High Intensity Interval Training, and when it comes to fat loss absolutely nothing compares to HIIT (sorry for the bad joke). HIIT is based on the theory that fat loss is not a direct result of the calories burned during a workout, but rather the calories that the body burns after the workout is done. A traditional cardio session may burn upwards of 300 calories , but once you have stopped running that is it whereas HIIT forces the body to keep burning calories after the workout is finished. If you are still not convinced about HIIT here are some more benefits to this style of training
- Increase your metabolism for up to 36 hours
- Burn maximum fat in minimum time
- Increase strength
- Increase muscular endurance
- Give you lean, firm muscles
- Improve your anaerobic endurance
- Shorten your workout times, and
- Increase your free time
Now that you know what HIIT does, lets take a look at how it is performed. Firstly HIIT can be done with any piece of cardio equipment, but for beginners I generally recommend the exercise bike. You want to set up the bike so that you can almost extend your leg fully in the bottom position of peddling, once you have the height adjusted you are going to set the machine to a manual ride, meaning that you will be responsible for the difficulty and pace of the ride. Set the timer for a 15 minute count down, input your weight etc and start riding.
The First 2 minutes should be at a comfortable pace ( if someone where to ask you how hard you are working it should be around a 5/10). This setting will depend on your personal level of fitness, a very fit person may have to set the intensity up to a level 14 on the bike to achieve this , whereas someone who is just starting out may have to input a 4 on the machine. Once the 2 minutes is up you are going to increase the difficulty on the bike up to a 8/10, the peddles should be much harder to move at this point ( imagine riding up a steep hill). You will ride at this 8/10 for 30 seconds and then drop back down to the 5/10 once that is done. Alternate between these periods of high and low intensity for the next 12 minutes or until the timer reads that you have 1 minute left on the bike. On the last minute I want you to try to set a personal best and take yourself to a 10/10 in terms of how hard you peddle, once you have completed this you are done for the day.
The keys to success with HIIT are;
- With HIIT, you try to work as hard as possible for the assigned time period.
- Each HIIT- Aerobic workout is made up of an equal number of shorter rides and longer recovery periods.
- During each sprint, you try to pedal / run / climb as fast as you can.
To learn about some more effective fat loss strategies click HERE