HIIT: What is it and why it’s better than regular steady-state cardio!
HIIT TRAINING AND THE AFTERBURN EFFECT! If your joints allow you to do so, HIIT training (high intensity interval training) is one of the best forms of cardio for rapid weight loss. Ever wonder why wrestlers, boxers, and sprinters are shredded but seem to have a muscular build!? It is because the sport itself is a form of HIIT TRAINING. Let me explain how it works.
HIIT training is when you perform an exercise or activity as fast and as hard as you can for as long as you can endure then you rest. After your rest you go right back at it again giving it 200%+ effort. It doesn’t take long before you are completely out of breath on your back gasping for air. You burn a LOT of calories doing this and trigger something called the AFTER BURN EFFECT! WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?
The best way I can describe the after burn effect is after this short intense form of exercise, your body is going to have a sped up metabolism. Some studies have even shown that your metabolism can be sped up for as long as 48 hours! So, if you have the mental & physical capacity to push your limits and go hard for 5-10 minutes. You can increase your ability to burn fat for 48 hours… Worth it? I’d say so. Here’s a little more technical detail for you.
When we are performing HIIT training your muscles are getting a great workout too. You experience a pump just like when you are lifting weights. This lactic acid build up on top of improvement in cardiovascular endurance is where the magic happens. Your body needs to consume more oxygen to fight off the lactic acid and repair itself which where the increase the metabolism comes into play.
This is why sprinters (they go all out to win the race), boxers (they are fighting hard for 3 minutes with a minute rest) and wrestlers (once again they’re fighting hard as hell with short rest durations) all are able to obtain that shredded look and have muscle on their frame. I’ll give a few examples below of HIIT training, so you can understand it better.
- Sprint 100 meters as fast as you can and walk back.. as soon as you get back your BACK AT IT. REPEAT for as many rounds as you can handle and build your way up.
- Bicycle or elliptical – Go has hard as you can for a minute. Slow down for 30 seconds… go as hard as you can for a minute. Rest 30 seconds. Repeat for as long as you can handle and build up your endurance
- Treadmill- Run at your sprint speed for 30 seconds. Rest for 10 seconds. repeat until your spent.