H.I.I.T Me Baby One More Time!

So, there’s another method to my madness, and it’s pretty much the key to my castle! It’s efficient, you’ll burn more fat, you’ll build a healthier heart, there’s no equipment necessary, you’ll loose weight—not muscle, you’ll increase your metabolism, you can do it anywhere, and of course, it’s V (very) challenging. High-intensity interval training (HIIT) is the cherry on top of my Sunday through Friday!

Running, jumping rope, biking, rowing, etc. are simple ways to introduce HIIT to your life. This kind of fitness style is perfect for the corporate worker, the stay at home Mother (or Father), the college student, athletes, and anyone with a time crunch lifestyle!

As you all have probably figured out by now, I am usually very busy during the week. Everything in my universe has to be tailored to the time I actually have, and that’s the beauty of HIIT. The efficiency and effort I put into these workouts are how I’m able to stay fit. High- intensity interval training is practically any kind of workout that alternates between intense bursts of activity and fixed periods of less-intense activity or even complete rest. I incorporate them in my actual daily workout sessions by always ending my weightlifting regime with a high intensity workout using less time and VERY high intensity. For example, I always do my cardio in interval fashion. I will work hard and fast for a fixed time and then rest/recover. My cardio of choice and duration varies depending on the day! For example: I run outside on Tuesdays and my last workout was: 12 rounds of a 200m run at a push pace (speed you can maintain) and then rest/walk for 30 seconds! Once I finished that, I ended with 15 40yd sprints! The length and duration of the run can change according to your fitness level. As you get better, add more rounds and rest for less time! Impress yourself!

There is another style of workouts I do with HIIT. It’s called TABATA. The traditional TABATA lasts for 4 minutes each block for a total of 16 minutes: 20 seconds of work and 10 seconds off. You push yourself as hard as you can for your working time and rest for half that time. This is one set. I like to change up the duration and round length as well: 30sec/15sec, 1min/30sec.. It all depends on your goal and fitness level! When deciding on the movements, I like to do a mixture of resistance, power and aerobic. Some examples are: box jumps, MB rotational throws, wall balls, DB squat to press, jump rope, slam balls etc. Doing movements like these will increase your heart rate quicker and make it more intense! GET IT HOW YOU LIVE!

But remember, high intensity workouts aren’t highly intense unless Y O U put in that powerful effort. It’s very important to push yourself past those comfort barriers during those short burst of intense intervals— it’s how you get into better shape; your heart rate increases and you burn more calories during and throughout the day! I’m pretty crazy (passionate) when it comes to my workouts, so I like workouts that make me feel like I can’t go on any longer— but that’s what makes me better. It challenges me to keep going when my body wants to stop! Mind over matter people! So overflow your mind with “I can” and “I will” and let go of the “cant’s”: *Que Britney: “HUSH JUST STOP!'

So, ditch the 5 day a week steady state cardio and trade it in for some intervals! The benefits are heavily measured by the endurance you gain after HIIT workouts. Science is real— I read about a study that showed after 8 weeks of doing HIIT workouts, those subjects were able to ride their bikes twice as long as they could before the study, while maintaining the same pace! So you marathon runners, triathlon peeps, INTERVALS MAKE YOU BETTER! I mean, It makes perfect sense—I have much more energy throughout my day because my heart is stronger than it was before I started high-intensity interval training; My hardest workouts are now easier, I can tolerate a much faster paced work week and still have energy for fitness and fun! And as THE QUEEN says: You wanna hot body? YOU BETTER WORK B****!

Peace&Love