For many years, HIIT was one of the hidden secrets of the health and fitness industry reserved for elite athletes. With so many people trying to find out how to lose weight with more challenging and original methods, however, it has now become one of the most popular choices for gym members around the world.
There are a few different ways to perform this particular style of exercise and today we'll teach you how to single out the method which best suits your personal goals.
While many people are content to jog at a steady pace on a treadmill for hour after hour, there is a large amount of the fitness population who find this approach a little boring. As a result, they tend to put their efforts into resistance training and in many cases they completely neglect cardiovascular exercise.
High intensity interval training provides both groups with a stepping stone between their respective styles, offering the benefits of both methods in one workout.
Who should be exercising this way? Well, to a certain degree absolutely anybody can get results with the many variations of interval training which are out there. It has been proven to burn fat at an increased rate and also to increase lean muscle tissue, so regardless of your overall fitness goal there is undoubtedly a place for this in your workout routine.
One of the biggest plus sides of this training style is a phenomenon called Excess Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption. You might have heard this called "The Afterburn Effect" by some trainers. When performing a resistance training session your body continues to burn off calories for up to sixteen hours after your session is over, this is also a benefit of interval training.
Like any other type of training, however, there are numerous ways to perform it. Knowing which one best fits your overall goal will allow you to get superior results.
* Tabata Interval Training.
* Performing intervals specifically to improve your performance in a sporting event.
* Interval training specifically to reduce body fat.
The Tabata method is designed for elite athletes or extremely fit individuals who are looking to increase an already high level of fitness. When you reach a level which is considered elite, you will notice gains are far harder to come by. For instance, think how hard a bodybuilder works to add an extra quarter of an inch to a muscle before a contest.
Originating from Japan, this style of workout has been proven to increase the VO2 Max in a group of highly trained athletes by a whopping 28%.
Minus the necessary warm-up and cool-down periods, Tabata's involve working out for just four minutes in total. However, don't let the short time fool you into thinking that this is going to be easy. These four minutes will push you harder than any other form of interval training in existence today. The four minutes are split up into sections of 20 seconds at maximal intensity and 10 seconds of recovery, repeated eight times over.
If you are training for a particular sporting event, the second type of interval training is perhaps more suited to your personal needs. Incorporating your sporting movements into a cardiovascular exercise then switching to an exercise which works the opposing muscle groups is a great way to boost overall performance. For instance, eight circuits consisting of 300 meters on a rowing machine followed by 30 seconds of push-ups.
If you are looking to use high intensity interval training to improve your general fitness and get the fat loss benefits on offer then you should pay close attention to a recent study performed in Canada. Researchers found that the optimal interval workout for fat loss is a thirty minute session split up into sections of 4 minutes at a moderate intensity and 30 second bursts of maximum effort.
The physical benefits of performing high intensity interval training are clear to see. Thanks to the several variations available you can make the most of this training style whether you are trying to build lean muscle or trying to shed unwanted body fat.
Learning how to lose weight can be a tricky affair, with so much contradicting information in circulation. The three styles of HIIT given in today's post have the most scientific evidence to support their benefits and, depending upon which category you fit into, you will be able to fit one of these into your existing weights routine.
There are a few different ways to perform this particular style of exercise and today we'll teach you how to single out the method which best suits your personal goals.
See the top 5 types of hiit sessions and what they are designed for.
While many people are content to jog at a steady pace on a treadmill for hour after hour, there is a large amount of the fitness population who find this approach a little boring. As a result, they tend to put their efforts into resistance training and in many cases they completely neglect cardiovascular exercise.
High intensity interval training provides both groups with a stepping stone between their respective styles, offering the benefits of both methods in one workout.
Who should be exercising this way? Well, to a certain degree absolutely anybody can get results with the many variations of interval training which are out there. It has been proven to burn fat at an increased rate and also to increase lean muscle tissue, so regardless of your overall fitness goal there is undoubtedly a place for this in your workout routine.
One of the biggest plus sides of this training style is a phenomenon called Excess Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption. You might have heard this called "The Afterburn Effect" by some trainers. When performing a resistance training session your body continues to burn off calories for up to sixteen hours after your session is over, this is also a benefit of interval training.
Like any other type of training, however, there are numerous ways to perform it. Knowing which one best fits your overall goal will allow you to get superior results.
* Tabata Interval Training.
* Performing intervals specifically to improve your performance in a sporting event.
* Interval training specifically to reduce body fat.
The Tabata method is designed for elite athletes or extremely fit individuals who are looking to increase an already high level of fitness. When you reach a level which is considered elite, you will notice gains are far harder to come by. For instance, think how hard a bodybuilder works to add an extra quarter of an inch to a muscle before a contest.
Originating from Japan, this style of workout has been proven to increase the VO2 Max in a group of highly trained athletes by a whopping 28%.
Minus the necessary warm-up and cool-down periods, Tabata's involve working out for just four minutes in total. However, don't let the short time fool you into thinking that this is going to be easy. These four minutes will push you harder than any other form of interval training in existence today. The four minutes are split up into sections of 20 seconds at maximal intensity and 10 seconds of recovery, repeated eight times over.
If you are training for a particular sporting event, the second type of interval training is perhaps more suited to your personal needs. Incorporating your sporting movements into a cardiovascular exercise then switching to an exercise which works the opposing muscle groups is a great way to boost overall performance. For instance, eight circuits consisting of 300 meters on a rowing machine followed by 30 seconds of push-ups.
If you are looking to use high intensity interval training to improve your general fitness and get the fat loss benefits on offer then you should pay close attention to a recent study performed in Canada. Researchers found that the optimal interval workout for fat loss is a thirty minute session split up into sections of 4 minutes at a moderate intensity and 30 second bursts of maximum effort.
The physical benefits of performing high intensity interval training are clear to see. Thanks to the several variations available you can make the most of this training style whether you are trying to build lean muscle or trying to shed unwanted body fat.
Learning how to lose weight can be a tricky affair, with so much contradicting information in circulation. The three styles of HIIT given in today's post have the most scientific evidence to support their benefits and, depending upon which category you fit into, you will be able to fit one of these into your existing weights routine.
About the Author:
Writer: Russ Howe PTI is England's most followed fitness instructor. He reglarly teaches gym members how to lose weight and introduced many to hiit workouts on a daily basis.
