How to Use High Intensity Interval Training to Maximize Your Cardio Workout

A cardio workout is an important part of any weight loss or fitness regimen. Using high intensity interval training can boost the results you get from your cardio workout, helping you get the results you want quickly and efficiently. Read on for tips on incorporating high intensity interval training into your workouts!

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Motivation to workout
• A stopwatch
• List of your favorite cardio exercises

1. Choose a cardio workout you enjoy. Popular workouts include running (outdoors or on a treadmill), swimming, using an elliptical machine, or bicycle riding. Choosing activities you enjoy and switching up your exercises from time to time will help keep you motivated and will make working out more enjoyable.

2. Instead of performing your exercise at the same pace for the entire workout, you should vary the exertion level during the workout at specified intervals. This technique keeps your body at peak efficiency, helping you burn calories and reach your goals faster than traditional cardio workouts. For example, when running, you would spend two minutes walking followed by two minutes of running. Repeat this cycle four times and follow it up with a two minute cool-down period (a very slow walk). This workout clocks in at a lightning fast eighteen minutes, but will give you more cardio benefits than a thirty minute workout performed at the same intensity throughout.

3. Picture a scale from 1 to 10, with 1 being minimal exertion (a very slow walk) and 10 being maximum exertion (a full-speed sprint). When starting out, your slow interval (walking in the Step 2 example) would be at the 3-4 intensity level. The fast interval (running in the above example) would be at a 6-7 intensity level. The cool-down period should be a very low intensity – 1 or 2 on the scale. Everyone’s intensity scale will be different, and it is important to tailor your workouts to what your body can handle.

4. Try and perform a high intensity interval cardio workout 3-4 times per week. As you gain more experience and stamina, you will find what used to be a level 7 intensity is now just a level 5 or 6! This means it is time to up the ante and push yourself a little harder. Remember not to over-exert yourself, but always strive to set new personal goals. Before you know it, you will have increased stamina and energy, and the pounds will start to melt off!

5. Feel the benefits all day long! Physiologists believe high intensity interval training primes your body for peak calorie consumption, which will continue long after you’ve stopped working out. For the best results, workouts should be performed in the morning before you have eaten. This way, all calories being burned are coming from your body’s reserves instead of the food you have just eaten. However, if you cannot workout in the morning, you will still get great results no matter when you do the exercises!

Tips & Warnings

• Start off slowly, especially if you are not used to working out. There is no shame in taking it easy the first couple of times at the gym as you get used to your body’s reaction.
• Always check with your physician before starting any exercise routine, especially if you have any pre-existing health conditions. Doing so can save your life!
• If you are new to working out or a particular gym, ask the staff for help. They are experts on the machines their facility uses and will be more than happy to answer any questions you have about different exercises.
• Never over-exert yourself. It is great to push yourself and get a good workout, but if you ever feel faint, dizzy, nauseous, or experience any chest pain or difficulty breathing, stop immediately and notify the gym staff (or call a doctor if you are exercising outside a gym).

[kristara]

on 5/5/2009 Very comprehensive exercise article! 5*