HIIT Training

So, what is the No. 1 Exercise to Burn Fat Fast?

If you want to see results fast, without the negative effects of cardio exercise, your best option is burst training.

You may have also heard the words, interval training, HIIT (high intensity interval training) and the Tabata method. All involve combining short, high intensity bursts of exercise with slow recovery phases, repeated several times during one exercise session.

What does that really mean?

I get asked about HIIT often as I teach Metafit, HIIT still seems to be confusing as a concept.

So how do you do BURST or HIIT training?

It involves exercising at 85-100% of your maximum effort (definitely outside your comfort zone) for 30-60 seconds in order to burn your body’s stored sugar (glycogen). This is followed by 30-60 seconds of lower intensity exercise for recovery, sometimes even a rest period (not a long one!)

Traditional cardio/endurance activity tends to be around 50-70% of your maximum heart rate (more in your comfort zone!)

With HIIT or Burst Training, you only need to repeat this 4-6 sets of 30-60 second bursts, 3 times a week to see marked changes and improvements. Make sure you have days of rest.

So what happens during HIIT workouts? Your metabolic rate is disturbed (hence the name Metafit!), which in turn makes the body have to burn fat for the next 36 hours after a HIIT session, as your body works hard to replace your muscle energy (glycogen) stores.

Are you making a mistake by doing too much cardio?

Most people who want to burn fat and lose weight falsely assume that going to gym and doing traditional aerobic exercise like jogging, cycling, cross trainer etc are the best way to see results…HOLD IT..

Recent research is proving that this long distance cardiovascular exercise is NOT the fastest way to lose weight. HALLELUJAH I hear you cry – all that plodding on the pavement, taking up lots of your time!

Spending hours on the treadmill and not really seeing results is likely because longer spells of cardio exercise can actually raise your stress hormone levels like cortisol. When cortisol is high, it stimulates insulin production, which stimulates the appetite and when insulin is high, you store fat.

So too much cardio can:
Cause you to age faster
Breaks down and stresses joints
Can cause the body to STORE fat instead of BURNING fit
Create hormonal imbalance.

NO ONE WANTS THAT!

Strength & Resistance HIIT/Burst Training

One of the biggest benefits of HIIT training is that it can be done almost anywhere with no (or minimal) equipment. Your own bodyweight doing a push up or lunge or squat or tricep dip or just walking up a hill, is creating resistance.

Examples:
Walking round a running track and sprinting the straights and walking the curves.
Using lampposts to walk as fast as you can trying to get yourself out of breath (you may need handweights or ankle weights for this to happen) and walking slower to recover.
Getting on a bike and cycling hard for 20 seconds and going easy for 20 seconds, cycling for a total of 10-40 minutes.
Swimming hard for 30 seconds, swimming slower for 20 seconds.
Sprinting up a hill as fast as you can for 30 seconds, walking down recovering for 30 seconds and repeating 10 times.
Using a chair or table at home to do push ups or tricep dips.
Using your stairs to climb 2 at a time or just walk up and down faster than usual.
Lifting a chair above your head a few times.
Sitting down and standing up (with or without holding a weight).

ANYBODY can do interval training, not just athletes.

The primary hormone response from HIIT training using strength and resistance exercises is elevated levels of human growth hormone (HGH). This hormone is essential for fat mobilisation. It also signals fat burning enzymes and helps with muscle mass development (having increased muscle mass means you will have shape and tone and also burn more fat).
HGH levels are raised most during sleep, in direct proportion to exercise intensity during your workout.

The more you put in, the more you get out!

I use varying levels of HIIT methods in ALL my sessions, whether people realise it or not! – I like to think that’s why clients leave feeling they’ve had a workout AND they see results.

As long as YOU are working at 85-100% of YOUR maximum effort for 30-60 seconds and stop for similar recovery, then you’re doing it!

EXERCISE & ACTIVITY – How do you do yours?

Join me for Metafit, HIIT circuits and many of my other classes to reap the benefits of HIIT training.