I work 60+ hours per week, how can get a great workout in a short amount of time?
—J.R. Lands, Los Alamitos
I think most of us would agree that we would love to maximize our workouts and be more efficient.
The problem is that most of us are spending too much time doing the wrong thing and our drive for fitness quickly leaves us.
If you can accomplish 50 percent more in 50 percent less time, why do more?
High Intensity Interval Training, also known as HIIT, are workouts with short bursts of high intense exercise and short intervals of rest.
If you think about nature, how many animals do you know that spend their time jogging around at a gradual pace for a consistent amount of time?
None. By nature, we are designed for bursts of speed. Go ask a cheetah if he likes distance running.
Athletes that play sports know that hours of running will not make them faster.
Unless your goals are to be a marathon runner or a tri-athlete, wouldn’t you like to accomplish more in less time?
There are many positive benefits from working out in this way. Workouts like these are great for a few different reasons: 1) muscle confusion to increase performance, 2) workouts only last about 20 – 30 min (at max effort), 3) you can dramatically increase your bodies potential to burn more fat and calories, and 4) you will increase your cardio and muscular endurance in a matter of weeks.
Essentially, when you do high-intensity interval training HIIT, your body and metabolism function at a higher rate of burned calories for hours afterwards.
What does that mean?
It means you’re burning calories while sitting on your backside at home or at work.
When it comes down to it, you have to train your heart like any other muscle in your body.
You wouldn’t do bicep curls for 45 minutes.
HIIT workouts exhaust your oxygen intake during training and your heart has to work overtime to recover during periods of rest.
HIIT constantly forces your heart to adjust to changing conditions: sprints, jogging, sprints, jogging, up hills, down hills, etc.
Your heart learns to operate outside of its norm, and your body learns to adapt to these changes. All of this changing and sprinting kicks your metabolism into high gear for hours after you finish exercising.
High intensity workouts like this can be done one to three times per week depending on your fitness level. If your goal is to build muscle, do HIIT on your off days.
If your goals are to tone and lose fat, you can mix HIIT workouts in on days that you work with weight too.
Try to replace a typical cardio day with interval training. Don’t forget, more is not always better!
This is not an easy or magic solution to fitness.
HIIT requires you to push your body far out of your comfort zone therefore interval training isn’t for everyone.
Pushing your heart rate up very high with intensive interval training can put a strain on the cardiovascular and neurological systems, so consult a doctor or fitness professional. If you are a beginner or have health limitations, you are better off performing more moderately paced endurance-type workouts and strength training.
For the most of us, it comes down to hard work and proper nutrition.
The best fitness program you can do is the one that you will do!
No matter what program you do, give yourself time to reach your goals. To get visually simulating results you need at least 60 days of consistent fitness programming while incorporating a proper diet. Proper nutrition will always make up more than half of your results for fat loss.
For more information about HIIT contact me at Beach Fitness or your local fitness professional. Keep moving, have fun, and get fit!
Bryce Turner is co-owner of Beach Fitness at 148 Main E and F. He has a bachelor of science degree in physical therapy/exercise science and welcomes your questions on fitness.
Do you have a question for Bryce and this column? He can be reached for questions at (562) 493-8426 or send e-mail to bryce@beachfitness.com.
