It’s a fact that HIIT works and works really good.This type of training not only burns a lot of calories while you are working out, but also speeds up your metabolism and keeps it increased hours after the intense workout.
HIIT improves cardiovascular endurance, making your workouts a lot shorter than traditional cardiovascular workouts and at the same time, more effective.Besides cutting excess bodyfat HIIT is a tremendous way to stimulate new muscle growth.In fact HIIT can be more effective at improving your health and fitness and burning fat than many hours of your regular endurance training.
HIIT training can be applied to all kinds of activities where you can alternate between high and low intensity phases.It can be done on a treadmill, elliptical, stationary bicycle and lots of other activities, but my personal favorite is sprinting.
The thing is, lots of people confuse the principles of HIIT sprinting with the principles of ordinary cardio and this is where they get it wrong. First of all, this type of training is not for everyone.It requires you to be in a good physical shape and condition even before you start doing it, or otherwise you can easily end up injuring yourself.
The other thing you need to understand is that you have to treat HIIT sprints for what they are – a high intensity form of exercise.When you are sprinting you are you are giving an all-out, max effort. Just like any heavy weightlifting workout it can beat you down in no time.Here are a few tips on how to make the sprints work for you:
1. You should treat HIIT sprinting like a weight workout.This means NO sprints on weightlifting days.They deserve a separate day.
2. You should allow your body to rest properly after a HIIT sprint session.Get a rest day after the sprint workout.
3. No trainee that knows what HIIT means would train in the gym 4+ times a week (or even 3 times) and do additional HIIT sprinting that same week.If you don’t believe me just try it for a couple of weeks.
An example setup would look like:
day 1 – Upper body workout
day 2 – HIIT Sprints
day 3 – rest
day 4 – Lower Body workout
day 5 – rest
day 6 – HIIT Sprints
day 7 – rest
4.When you start sprinting – start at a lower pace and shorter sprint intervals.A good rule of a thumb would be 15 seconds of sprinting and 1 minute of jogging (or walking).
5.Switch between regular, low intensity cardio and HIIT phases.You can do HIIT sprinting for 3-4 weeks and then return to regular cardio for another 3-4 weeks.
Here’s an example of a typical HIIT workout: HIIT Training for Fat Loss
awesome article– thanks! Could a female do 2 full body days and 2 HIIT sprint sessions per week for fat loss?
Yes, if you can tolerate the load. I would start with
1.lower day
2.upper day
3.rest day
4.Hiit day
5.rest day
6.low intensity cardio day
7.rest day
Hi
How long should my HIIT workouts last for effective fat burn?
Thanks
About 5 min of warm up (jogging)
About 10 min of sprints (30 sec sprint and 60 sec rest in the form of walking/jogging)
about 5 min of cool down (jogging or walking)
Hey thanks for ur advice. great job.
my training:
monday –> chest n biceps
tuesday –> legs n lower back
wednesday –> rest day
thurstday –> back n triceps
friday –> shoulder n neck
saturday –> 2 sets chest / biceps / triceps
i am doin no carido at this moment at all.
could u tell me how i should do my training for better results please!?
It will be too much work if you include HIIT in this routine. You can try low intensity cardio for 30-35 min after your weightlifting sessions.
Or just try adding some HIIT on saturday after your workout and see how you feel in 3-4 weeks.
Monday- back
Tuesday-chest
Wednesday-legs
Thursday-triceps biceps,abs
Friday-shoulders
I am also doing cardio after each workout. Except wednesday.
The reason I am doing cardio is belly fat on my lower abs. I am trying to loose 4-5 santimetres more( already lost 9).
How can I loose belly fat faster with my workout program. I am already 6 weeks doing it and I will be doing it 2 more weeks. Than I am going to change it.
The workout won’t help you much if your diet is not in place. You will surely lose some body fat and build muscle, but the diet is the one that determines how cut you look.
Could I do 3xweek full body weights and one HIIT sprint day per week for muscle gain?
Female ectomorph trying to gain mass.
I think all this plus lots of good calories would be good.
OR should I only do weights 2xweek and have my third day be HIIT?
2 x week and a HIIT day would be better and less taxing