| Can you think of anything more torturous than | | | | outside or swimming laps: |
| spending an hour pedaling away on a bike or plodding | | | | * Start with an easy 4 minute warm up, casually |
| along on the treadmill? You're not alone. Most exercise | | | | increasing your pace to the one that you usually |
| enthusiasts dread conventional cardio - why? | | | | maintain for your workout. |
| Because it's b-o-r-i-n-g. | | | | * Once you are sufficiently warm, sky rocket your |
| So why do it at all? The goal of a cardio workout is to | | | | intensity for 30 seconds. |
| lose the unwanted inches and to develop the | | | | * Return to your normal pace for the next 30 seconds |
| efficiency of your heart and lungs. But new studies are | | | | and then sky rocket again. |
| out that show our slow-go cardio sessions may not be | | | | * Repeat this 30-30 interval for 6 minutes and then |
| as effective for burning off that holiday bulge as we | | | | gradually decrease your intensity as you enter a |
| thought. | | | | cooling off pace. |
| When you plod along on the treadmill at an even pace, | | | | After your HIIT session you can expect to burn more |
| your body enters what is called a steady state. This | | | | calories due to an increase in your metabolism - |
| means that your body has adjusted to the pace and is | | | | sounds good, right? If you aren't ready to jump into a |
| now trying to conserve energy. | | | | full-fledged HIIT session, try on of the following modified |
| Conserve energy? But I thought the point was to burn | | | | HIIT workouts: |
| energy? | | | | Modified HIIT 1: |
| And so your dilemma goes: You can't stand the | | | | * Start with at least a 5 minute warm up, casually |
| monotony of traditional cardio and it leaves you with | | | | increasing your pace to the one that you usually |
| less than satisfactory results. So what should you do? | | | | maintain for your workout. |
| The answer is HIIT, a new training technique that blasts | | | | * Once you are sufficiently warm, increase your |
| both boredom and fat. | | | | intensity for a full minute. |
| "In research, HIIT has been shown to burn adipose (fat) | | | | * Return to your normal pace and remain here until you |
| tissue more effectively than low-intensity exercise - up | | | | have recovered enough to go again. |
| to 50% more efficiently." | | | | * Repeat this 1 minute interval with full recovery time |
| "HIIT speeds up your metabolism and keeps it revved | | | | between each one for the full extent of your workout |
| up for some time after your workout. The bottom line | | | | and then gradually decrease your intensity as you |
| is that HIIT training burns a greater number of total | | | | enter a cooling off pace. |
| calories than low-intensity training, and more calories | | | | Modified HIIT 2: |
| burned equals less fat on your body." | | | | * Start with at least a 5 minute warm up, casually |
| What is HIIT? | | | | increasing your pace to the one that you usually |
| High-Intensity Interval Training: is an exercise strategy | | | | maintain for your workout. |
| that improves performance with short training sessions. | | | | * Once you are sufficiently warm, change your speed |
| These sessions involve a warm up period, several | | | | and intensity for 2 minutes. |
| short, maximum-intensity efforts that are separated by | | | | * Return to your normal pace for 2 minutes and then |
| moderate recovery intervals, and a cool down period. | | | | change your intensity and speed again. The key is to |
| In other words, your 60 minutes of low-intensity cardio | | | | keep your body guessing - you aren't doing full intensity |
| is replaced with more effective, High Intensity Interval | | | | work, but you also aren't staying at the same pace for |
| Training for as little as 15 minutes. The addition of | | | | the entire length of the workout. |
| explosions of speed into your comfortable pace will | | | | * Repeat this 2 minute interval for the full extent of |
| increase your power, muscle tone, speed, strength, | | | | your workout and then gradually decrease your |
| endurance and best of all will melt the inches off. | | | | intensity as you enter a cooling off pace. |
| Here is an example of a HIIT program - this can be | | | | There you have it - all you need to take your cardio |
| done on any form of cardio equipment or even jogging | | | | workout to the next level. |