High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)

Yesterday I ran the stairs at Spotts Park. My goal was to push myself hard enough running up and down the stairs to get my HR up around 180 bpm and then walk around until my HR dropped to around 135 bpm. My HR graph from this High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) session looks very similar to the graphs of the athletes in Bill's classes. Check out my HR graph. http://connect.garmin.com/activity/68330803. Do NOT look at the calorie count—it is way off because my watch doesn’t calculate calories burned based on HR (I need to get a new HR monitor).

HIIT is a very effective form of cardiovascular exercise because it burns a large amount of calories during the training session. HIIT also burns fat in a short and intense workout. Your body responds to this form of intense training by increasing growth hormone levels which preserve and build muscle. In addition, your metabolism will be elevated for the remainder of the day, which leads to even more calories being burned.

Steady state, lower intensity cardio, is when your HR is maintained at around 130 bpm. There are benefits to both types of training, but in general lower intensity cardio workouts are less effective than HIIT because the only calories you burn are while you are exercising. After the exercising is over, your metabolism returns to normal. In addition, your body does not produce a hormonal response to lower intensity cardio. That means if you use this form of cardio to burn calories, you are less likely to preserve all the muscle that you have.

A good example of the types of athletes that participate in HIIT cardio on a regular basis are sprinters. On the other hand, athletes that use lower intensity, steady state cardio are marathon runners or long distance cyclists. There is a huge difference in the physiques of sprinters and marathon runners. Sprinters have larger muscles, definition between their muscles, and a lower body fat percentage. Marathon runners have very little muscle on their frames, less muscle definition, and a higher body fat percentage.

Anytime you are performing a cardio workout, get the most out of your workout by following a HIIT scheme. You can do this on any piece of cardio equipment that you like. Just push yourself until your HR gets up to 180bpm and then slow down until your HR drops to 135 bpm. Repeat this cycle until you reach your goal of 35 minutes.

If you are interested in participating in HIIT, join me on Thursday mornings at Spotts Park at 5:30 AM. I hope to see you guys there!

Robert.

Guidelines for Eating Out

One of the easiest ways to derail your fat loss efforts is choosing less than ideal foods to eat when eating out at a restaurant. If you keep these few criteria in mind while choosing what to order you will have no problems eating a sensible meal when dining out.

1. If you are ordering a salad, be sure to get a low fat or fat free dressing. Ideally you would request this salad dressing on the side of the salad so that you can use only as much as you want. Excess salad dressing will add unnecessary calories to the meal.
2. Include protein with every meal that you eat
3. Make sure this protein is baked or grilled, not fried or breaded
4. Stay away from any buttery or creamy sauces that restaurants like to top meats with
5. When choosing what carbohydrate to eat, again pick ones that are low in fat and not topped or made with butter or creamy sauces. Grilled vegetables are a great choice since they are low in calories, high in fiber and quite filling.

You are probably thinking that finding a selection on the menu at a restaurant that fits all of these criteria will be nearly impossible. It would be very hard, but you can easily solve this problem by asking the waiter to have your meal prepared the way you want it. Don’t be afraid to make special requests for your meal. I have rarely found a waiter that isn’t happy to accommodate my requests.

Have fun!

Robert