What is HIIT?HIIT or high intensity interval training is very different from regular cardio work. Normally when you do cardio, you will jogg, swim, or use the elliptical at a steady slow pace for an hour or more right?HIIT is radically different. In high intensity interval training, you will warm up for a few minutes and go at full intensity and switch back to regular intensity. You will keep on going back and forth with your intensity level. You also only need to do this for 20-30 minutes tops. These sessions are intense, so if you are a beginner, you will want to start at 15 minutes. Gradually get your way up to 30 minutes as your endurance improves. This is how a 15 minute high intensity interval training session would look like warm up 2 minutes high intensity: 1 minute moderate intensity 1 minute high intensity 1 minute moderate intensity 1 minute high intensity 1 minute moderate intensity 1 minute high intensity 1 minute moderate intensity 1 minute high intensity 1 minute moderate intensity 1 minute high intensity 1 minute cool down 2 minutes What do I mean by high intensity? This means that you give 90% of your maximum effort. So if you were doing jogging, you would sprint as fast as you can for a minute. After a minute, you will slow down to a jog. You may not burn a lot of calories with interval training but your metabolism will be boosted for a maximum of 48 hours. That's much better than burning some calories. With a sped up metabolism, you will be burning fat even while you sleep. Since high intensity interval training sessions are brief, they prevent the breakdown of muscle tissue. Long boring cardio session can burn up muscle mass. This is why interval training is the best for those of us who want to keep our hard earned muscles. Interval training can be done with almost any exercise. Jogging, cycling, swimming, jump rope, and exercise machines are all viable options. If you like martial arts, you can also use it for HIIT too. Just make sure you know how to up the intensity levels. Return from HIIT to Six Pack Abs
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