What is the secret to the amazing results people are getting from Beachbody workouts like P90X, Insanity, and TurboFire?
The answer is HIIT or High Intensity Interval Training.
Why is High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) so effective? The Journal of Applied Physiology published a study in 2005 showing that HIIT will double an athlete’s endurance in just two weeks. HIIT pushes the body well over the traditional “fat burning” zone. This causes the body to use more muscle and force more oxygen through the body. This increase in oxygen supply helps the body “flush” toxins from muscles and increase recovery during rest periods. If you have ever heard of the “afterburner” effect, you are familiar with the idea of creating a continual calorie burn long after the workout session is over.
The steady state, low-moderate rate cardio is such a common way of training in our culture. People get confused about heart rate zones. We have all got on a treadmill and held on to the “heart rate handles”. This is a common form of exercise; however, it is not very effective. The human body adapts to change. Running on a treadmill get less and less effective the more your body “gets used to it”.
When you buy a heart rate monitor, it will have information about training “zones”, and the fat burning zone is usually 60%-80% of maximum heart rate. In contrast, your heart rate goes way above the fat burning zone when doing Turbo Fire, Insanity, or Plyo X. So, should you lessen your intensity to stay in the fat burning zone??”
NO WAY!! The point of Plyo X, Insanity, and Turbo Fire is to get you above the fat burning zone and into the amazing new world of HIGH INTENSITY INTERVAL TRAINING (or HIIT).
You will actually burn way more calories performing HIIT cardio over traditional cardio. Sprinters have been training with intervals forever. The bursts of effort given by sprinters show how much energy is expended in a short period of time. Plyo X is a great example of HIIT. This program uses 3 intervals of 30 second high intensity effort followed by 1 minute of a lower intensity effort for recovery. The circuit is then repeated, before a short rest period. Most people performing this workout burn around 1000 calories in 45 minutes! This is a crazy calorie burn. But, you have to bring the intensity to get the results. You can’t get that kind of calorie burn jogging around the neighborhood for and hour.
And what’s more, the science now shows that not only is HIIT better for fat burning, it’s also better at improving athletic performance. So if you want to jump higher, run faster, and stay young longer, HIIT will help you do that.
Once you learn the basics and move into the advanced moves, you will find other ways to perform HIIT. You can run sprint intervals with very little rest in between, cycling with all-out speed intervals with very little rest in between, and of course HIIT can happen right in your living room.
So in conclusion, if you want max results in a small period of time, push yourself with HIIT. Throw out your heart rate monitor and bring maximum effort into your living room.
Read more about Insanity’s HIIT (which Shaun T calls Max Interval Training) HERE.
Read more about Turbo Fire’s HIIT HERE.
Keep bringing it! ALL OUT!!!!
