“Why should I practice running slow? I already know how to run slow. I want to learn to run fast.” Emile Zatopek
We are busy folks travelling through the world at a super fast pace. Therefore, we are often impatient and want immediate results! This rings true even with our health and fitness. Some believe that the best way to achieve a healthy, sculpted bod is through 30 to 6o minutes of traditional cardio exercise, but there’s a better way…a quicker, more efficient way, and that is high intensity interval training, or HIIT.
HIIT is a fat scorching, fitness boosting exercise strategy, wrapped up in a short, intense workout. It starts with a warm up, followed by six to ten intervals of high, then medium intensity exercise and ends with a cool down, lasting only about 15-20 minutes.
Long duration cardio causes the body to enter a ‘steady state,’ where it adapts to the fixed speed. While this does improve endurance, HIIT does NOT allow your body to adapt to a regular pace. It trains the body to respond and recover from a multitude of demands, making it a healthier and more efficient machine, with far better endurance than that of regular cardio!
In terms of muscle definition, HIIT builds a more muscular and toned body than steady state cardio. Our bodies are built for stop and go movements, not for long, steady motion. That is why sprinters and long-distance runners have such different physiques!
As for that spare tire around your waist? Steady state cardio does burn fat at about 500 calories for 30 minutes of training, and post workout, will continue to burn calories for about 30 to 60 minutes. This is good, but interval training is better! It revs up your metabolism and keeps it up for hours after your workout, burning a TON more fat than traditional cardio!
Also, HIIT helps build your cardiovascular AND anaerobic systems, resulting in faster speed and more power – a double whammy! Therefore, runners who want to improve their speed should integrate some interval training into their workouts.
If you’re not convinced yet, here’s more! One study suggests that HIIT may cause appetite suppression, while regular cardio can (yikes!) increase it. Another study has shown that HIIT may be better at preventing diabetes than regular cardio. Apparently, short sprints remove glycogen from the muscles and excess glucose from the blood. Lengthy jogs remove blood glucose, but have zero effect on the muscles.
What’s great about HIIT workouts is that they can be done in many different ways: by running on a track or treadmill, swimming, with an exercise bike, elliptical or with your own bodyweight. Not to sound like your Mother, but you should always consult with your doctor before starting any new exercise program. To exhaust your muscles of stored energy, use a 60 second split time for HIIT, and build up from six to ten intervals depending on your fitness level.
Example: Hop on your exercise bike and warm up your body for five minutes at a nice, easy pace. Then ride like hell for 60 seconds at a pace so intense that your muscles burn and the last few seconds seem undoable. Drop your speed to a medium intensity pace for 120 seconds (beginner) to 60 seconds (advanced), and repeat this pattern through six sets (beginner) to ten sets (advanced). Cool down with your nice and easy warm up pace for five more minutes. End with a stretch of those tired muscles, and enjoy a little couch time while your body continues to burn calories!
With our crazy, busy lives, many are opting for HIIT to get lean and fit. It is effective and in my opinion, more efficient than steady state cardio. But the bottom line is: minimal time commitment + variety = a more enjoyable workout!
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Here’s a question for you:If you had to limit yourself to only ONE type of workout for the rest of your life, what type of workout would you choose?
My answer would definitely be “bodyweight circuits”. Why? Because in my opinion they’re the perfect mix of resistance training and interval training combined into a short, intense workout.
So what exactly are bodyweight circuits? A typical bodyweight circuit would consist of about 8 different bodyweight exercises done in an interval fashion with a little rest in between each exercise. When you’re done with the 8 intervals you would allow yourself to catch your breath for a few minutes and then start all over again. Then repeat this process for as many times as you can.
The only thing that would make me hesitant towards choosing bodyweight circuits as my workout of choice is that I’m going to have to accept the fact that I’m literally going to be torturing myself several times a week. Bodyweight circuits are HARD!
Before I started exploring the world of bodyweight circuits, the hardest type of workout I knew of was sprint intervals or HIIT. But let me tell you, even though I was in pretty decent shape and could easily pull off 10 30-second all out sprints with 30 seconds of rest in between, the first time I tried a real bodyweight circuit I was still gasping for air 10 minutes after I was done.
The reason they are so friggin’ tough is due to the fact that you’re not only putting a strain on your heart, but your muscles too, to a much higher extent than you do when you’re doing for example a sprint interval type workout.
In addition to the joys of self-torture, here are some other benefits of bodyweight circuits:
1. Can be done pretty much anywhere. All you need is your own body and about 8×8 feet of free space!
2. Require very little time. Instead of spending 45 minutes in the gym followed by a cardio session, you can kill two birds with one stone by doing a bodyweight circuit – and cut the workout time down to less than 20 minutes.
4. Safe and easy on your joints. Bodyweight workouts are a much more “functional” and safe type of workout compared to your regular gym routine.
Here’s a video by Craig Ballantine of Turbulence Training, outlining a great bodyweight circuit which is very similar to the routine I do. Check it out!
Let me know what your own experience with bodyweight exercises and circuits is in the comments below!
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Muffin tops, a spare tire, abdominally challenged…no matter what you call it, it’s belly fat, it’s unattractive, and it could be dangerous to your health.
Trying to lose belly fat can be damned frustrating – it doesn’t respond very well to dieting, and stress can make it even worse! There is no “magic pill” for stomach fat, but it CAN be eliminated just by making a few, simple changes. Here are seven easy tips to help battle your mid-section bulge!
Just say “No” to processed foods that have stuff added in: sweeteners, salt, artificial flavors, colors, and preservatives. This “junk” has been stripped of any sort of nutritional value and fiber. So, it just sits in our bodies and turns into – you guessed it – FAT!
Concentrate on eating whole foods (fresh fruits and veggies, whole grains, and meats) that don’t have additives.
Cut out the refined sugar. If you’re following the first tip, you’re covered. Basically, table sugar and high-fructose corn syrup raise blood sugar levels, spiking insulin and causing a “fat party” around the midsection. And the more sugar you eat, the more those party guests want to hang around and invite friends!
Avoid simple carbohydrates. Again, this is taken care of with tip one. Simple carbs are found in “white” foods like bread, rice, and pasta and in sugary cereals. They have zero soluble fiber and speed into the bloodstream, storing as fat. Simple carbs create super quick energy which leaves us feeling tired, crabby and wanting more – a vicious cycle!
Focus on complex carbs, found in whole grain bread and pasta, brown rice, fruits and veggies. These carbs have a slower release of energy which leaves us full and happy!
Limit your overall carb intake. A diet too high in carbs can prevent your body from using your excess fat as its main energy source, making it harder to burn it off. What’s more, the excess glucose that comes from too much carbs gets stored as belly fat! Try substituting grains for fresh veggies, and work toward a goal of a maximum of about 100-120 grams of carbs per day.
Make these seven “fat burners” part of your diet.
Grass fed beef has four times less fat and less cholesterol and calories than grain fed beef. Its magic ingredient, CLA (conjugated linoleic acid) reduces stomach fat while building lean muscle. Pass the beef, please!
Green tea speeds the breakdown of fat in our bodies with another magical ingredient, catechin polyphenols. Therefore, it has the potential to speed up you metabolism.
Sardines contain fatty acids and Coenzyme Q10 which enhance the body’s energy and increase metabolism. Sardines are fat burning, muscle building, marvelous!
Nuts are chock full of good fats (Omega 3 fatty acids). A handful can help curb hunger and burn fat. In other words, you can fight fat with FAT!
Avocados are an awesome source of monounsaturated fat. When added to a meal, they help you feel fuller, more satisfied, and are proven to help prevent belly fat!
Coconut Oil has gotten a bad rap in the press. It is high in saturated fat, but it has fewer calories than other oils and is easy to digest. The fat in it changes quickly to energy and puts less stress on your pancreas, which means a higher metabolism!
Berries are full of antioxidants that remove glucose from the bloodstream, which would normally park itself on the spare tire around your middle and turn to fat. Berries are loaded with fiber and they fight disease – a “berry” good thing!
Ditch the long, boring cardio routines for high intensity interval training (HIIT). HIIT is a “fat scorching” exercise program which focuses on short, very intense workouts. HIIT sessions integrate high intensity exercise with medium intensity exercise for six to ten reps and last about 15-20 minutes.
HIIT burns 9 TIMES the fat of regular cardio because it revs up your metabolism and keeps it up for hours after your workout. Bottom line, more calories burnt = more fat lost!
Pump some iron! Weight training can really let the air out of that spare tire! The more muscle you build, the more energy your body needs. After cardio, your body will keep burning calories for about an hour. But after lifting weights, the calorie burn continues for up to 48 hours – it’s a no brainer!
To save time and deliver better results, focus on multi-joint (compound) exercises like squats, dead lifts, and leg/bench presses. These use more muscle groups and fuel growth throughout the body with the release of HGH (human growth hormone).
If you’ve got stubborn stomach fat you need to eighty-six the things that are keeping it there: processed foods, sugars, and simple carbs. Add in some high intensity workouts, weight training and super “fat burner” foods and you’ll be on your way to six pack abs in no time!
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If you’ve always wondered why your abdominal muscles refuse to shape up, no matter how many hours of crunches you punish your body with, California researchers have some very welcome news for you.
According to a recent study published by the American Council on Exercise, pushing yourself to accomplish a thousand crunches every second day isn’t the most effective way to tone, tighten and strengthen your gut. In fact, the classic crunch – or abdominal sit-up as it is better known – is amongst the most ineffective ways to work your abs… second only to those gimmicky abdominal exercise equipment advertised on late-night television shows. What’s more, rather than carving the flab away from your abdominal muscles, crunches are actually harmful to your back, and are the most common reason for back strains, sprains and other injuries.
Over the years, numerous fitness experts have rallied to and fro about the most effective ab exercises. After years of scientific research and experiments, scientists conclude that in order to bring about the best results, abdominal exercises must stimulate the two major muscle groups in your mid-section – the rectus abdominus which is the long flat muscle extending along the length of the front of your abdomen and the obliques or the long flat muscles along the sides of your abs. The more intense the stimulation – the better the results
On the basis of these criteria, the top three ab exercises are:
Exercise One: Hanging Leg Raises
To do this exercise:
- Hang from a pull-up bar, your legs extended straight down.
- Raise your legs upwards, bringing your knees up and towards your chest.
- Slowly lower your knees to the starting position and repeat.
When performing this exercise, try not to swing your legs and use the momentum to push your knees upwards. Instead, let your abdominal muscles do the work. Use a slow and controlled motion, concentrating on your ab muscles.
Start with bringing your knees up to your hip level, and then raise your knees higher as your abdominal muscles grow stronger. A tougher and more intense variant of this exercise is the straight-leg version, where you lift both your legs towards your chest, without bending your knees.
For those of you who find bent-knee leg raises too easy, and straight leg-raises too Herculean, try the tuck-straight variant, where you bend your knees on the lift up, and straighten your legs as you bring them back down to the starting position.
Hanging leg raises really push your rectus abdominal muscles and are a time-tested favorite with athletes and body-builders alike. This exercise targets your entire core section, building you a stronger, firmer and more toned midsection, and is one of the few exercises which actually give your lower abs a thorough workout.
Exercise Two: The Plank
To do this exercise:
- Lie face down on a mat.
- Lift your torso up on your forearms with your palms flat on the floor.
- Push off the mat, raising your body on your toes. Lift your knees off the mat. Your body should be balanced on your forearms and your toes.
- Keep your back flat such that your head, shoulders, hips and heels are in a straight line.
- Tuck in your abdominal muscles to keep your hips from jutting upwards.
- Hold for 20 – 60 seconds and then slowly lower your body back to the starting position.
The Plank is an excellent strength and stability exercise which builds core strength, stability and taut abs. This exercise targets your rectus abdominus and your obliques, while also strengthening your back and glutes.
When performing this exercise, concentrate on bringing your belly-button towards your spine, by squeezing your abdominal muscles as tightly can you can. While most adrenaline-addicted bodybuilding enthusiasts scoff at any exercise that doesn’t call for at least a several hundred repetitions, the plank is undoubtedly a lot more challenging than it seems at first blush. This exercise makes you push against the dual forces of gravity and your bodyweight to keep your back from arching and sagging, by tightening all your abdominal muscles.
Exercise Three: The Side Plank:
A slightly more advanced variant of the basic plank, the side plank is very effective in building core strength and stability. When performed correctly with perfect form, this exercise can tremendously strengthen and tone your abdominal and lower back muscles.
To do this exercise:
- Lie on your left side with your feet stacked, one on top of the other. Your left forearm should be placed flat on the floor, extended at a right angle from your body. Rest your left arm on your left side.
- Lift your body upwards on your forearm, with your weight balanced on your left forearm and the side of your left foot.
- Be sure that you aren’t arching your shoulders and / or holding your breath. Remember to keep your right shoulder, your hip and your foot in a straight line.
- Hold this position for as long as you can, and then slowly lower your body back to the starting position.
- Switch sides and repeat
For a more advanced version of this exercise, lift your arm and extend it straight towards the ceiling, such that it forms a straight line with your supporting elbow.
If you’re having trouble with balancing your bodyweight, start with lifting your body on your left forearm and the side of your left knee, maintaining a straight line with your head, right shoulder and right knee.
Although surprisingly uncomplicated, this exercise will make you break a sweat with the core stability and strength it calls for. If your oblique muscles aren’t strong enough, this exercise can be very challenging. Start simple, increasing the duration and complexity of this exercise as you gain more strength and balance.
Exercising your way towards a perfect set of six-pack abs is a relatively simple and uncomplicated process… given that you learn to distinguish the fact from fiction. Rather wasting your time, and hard-earned money, on fad products, expensive gym memberships and bogus miracle weight-loss pills, focus on reliable, scientifically proven ab-toning techniques… your fitness levels (and abdominal muscles) will know the difference!
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