Cardio Workouts: High Intensity Interval Training

High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) is a great way to increase metabolism and boost fat loss!

Over the summer you may have been running, biking or doing other types of cardio exercise outdoors. Now with cooler weather around the corner, it’s time to start planning your indoor cardio workouts. HIIT training is a super-efficient, fat burning format to use as one or two of your weekly cardio workouts. In fact, you can use HIIT with running, biking and other types of cardio programs too.

Studies have shown that High Intensity Interval Training improves both metabolism and body composition, and it’s a very efficient way to improve your fitness in a 30-45 minute session. If your goal is to focus on fitness and work to improve your body composition, this is a great option for you!

What is HIIT, How Does it Work?

High-Intensity Interval Training is repeated cycles of high-intensity effort for 30 seconds to a minute or more followed by brief recovery.

This type of training has become popular in recent years because you can use this workout format regardless of your fitness level. All you need to do is modify the movement and/or resistance to make the exercise more or less challenging. The idea is to work as hard and fast as you can while maintaining proper form, then rest for an interval of time, and then repeat another round of the exercise cycle. The total amount of time for one workout session can range from 20 - 45 minutes, depending on your fitness level. The workout can be indoors or outdoors, with or without light weights.

What are the Benefits?

This type of training is a very challenging aerobic activity, which improves cardiorespiratory function during exercise and at rest. Because HIIT can be used for cardio and muscular strength training, it can benefit everyone from athletes to recreational exercisers.

After exercise, HIIT workouts increase caloric burn, a process called Excess Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption (EPOC). To recover after an intense workout out, our body needs to consume more oxygen which increases the amount of calories being burned as it is returning to the pre-exercise state.

When working out as hard and as fast as possible, a shorter 20-30 minute workout session is efficient to gain benefits!

An Example HIIT Format

2-3 minute active warm-up, followed by 4 circuits. Each circuit is 3 exercises with short rests in between and each circuit is repeated 3 times (3 cycles).

A template to follow to create your own:

Circuit #1

Cycle 1: Exercise 1 Jumping Jacks for 50 seconds, then rest 20 sec.

Exercise 2 High Knees Run in Place for 50 secs, rest 20 sec.

Exercise 3 Burpees for 50 sec., then rest 20 sec.

Cycle 2: Exercise 1 Jumping Jacks for 50 seconds, then rest 20 sec.

Exercise 2 High Knees Run in Place for 50 secs, rest 20 sec.

Exercise 3 Burpees for 50 sec., then rest 20 sec.

Cycle3: Exercise 1 Jumping Jacks for 50 seconds, then rest 20 sec

Exercise 2 High Knees Run in Place for 50 secs, rest 20 sec.

Exercise 3 Burpees for 50 sec., then rest 20 sec

Circuit #2

Choose 3 different exercises, same format as circuit #1

Circuit #3

Choose 3 different exercises, same format as circuit #1

Circuit #4

Choose 3 different exercises same format as circuit #1

Finish with a 2-3 minute cool down.

Schedule a time to talk with me about personalized HIIT workouts, strength training and more! What are you waiting for?

Wendy@FusionFitnessandNutrition.com

www.FusionFitnessandNutrition.com