Hey Everyone! In this week’s Workout Wednesday, I am going to show you how to make the most out of your cardio sessions in a short amount of time with High Intensity Interval Training.
First off, why is cardio so important?
It’s important for heart health! Research shows that cardiovascular fitness helps protect us from heart disease. As fitness goes up, the risk of heart disease goes down. It also pushes our lungs to pass oxygen into the heart and then into the bloodstream. Oxygenated blood is very important because it is then pumped to the rest of your organs and tissues and is used to create energy. The body uses the oxygenated blood to turn calories and fat into energy. We want to melt away fat so that we can see the toned muscles that we work so hard for!
Why HIIT (High Intensity Interval training)?
1. You do not need a lot of time to complete HIIT! Let’s face it. Life is busy! But there are no excuses with HIIT. All you need is 15-20 minutes. You are really making the most of your precious time with HIIT!
2. Burn more calories. High Intensity Training pushes your body into metabolic conditioning which will leave you burning calories 24-48 hours after your workout. This cannot be done with traditional cardio (such as running at the same pace for an hour).
3. Increases your metabolism. In addition to burning more calories, HIIT stimulates the production of the human growth hormone (HGH) by up to 450 percent during the 24-48 hour period after you completed your workout. HCG is not only responsible for increased caloric burn but also for slowing down the aging process. Yes please!
4. Lose fat, not muscle! Steady state cardio has been known to encourage muscle loss but if you combine HIIT Cardio with weight training (or body weight training that we do here at Eat. Move. Live. Love.) you will preserve the muscles you work so hard to build while burning fat.
How do I do it?
Choose your favorite form of cardio. You can run inside or outside, use an elliptical machine, or bike.
For 30 seconds, you are going to give it 150% and go as fast as you can. Then for 60 seconds, you will walk or bike at a more leisurely rate. Repeat this for 14 rounds to complete a 20 minute workout. If you don’t have 20 minutes, do as many rounds as you have time for.
When I can’t be outdoors, I like to complete this on the elliptical machine at a 10 incline and 8 for resistance.
There’s an app for that!
There is an excellent app that I have downloaded on my phone called Tabata HIIT Timer. Here you can set your work and rest periods and how many rounds you want to complete. Put on some good music, press start on the app, and off you go! It will let you know when it’s time to give it your all and when it’s time to bring the intensity down. This allows you to focus and enjoy your workout without keeping your eyes glued to a timer. Below are links so that you can download the app on your iPhone or Android phone.
Tabata HIIT Timer App for Android
Tabata HIIT Timer App for iPhone
As always, let me know if you have any questions and please let me know what you think in the comments below! We will see you next Wednesday with a brand new video!
Emanate Yoga 