Here’s what you do:
- Pick cardio machine of your choice- or alternatively done without the machine by running, biking or swimming outdoors, perform a 5 minute warm up
- Take the time to stretch properly and you are ready to begin
- Start at a moderate pace for 1 minute, then crank up the pace to 90-95% of your maximum output or maximum heart rate
- Continue at this effort for 20-25 seconds, then slow back down to your starting pace for another minute followed by another 20-25 second all out sprint.
- Do this for no more than 15 minutes
- After that has been completed finish your workout my an easy paced cool down for 5 minutes and thoroughly stretch afterwards
If you perform this correctly you will be exhausted after 20 minutes, if you feel like you could do another 10 minutes then you haven’t pushed yourself to 90-95% maximum output.
The reason HIIT is so successful:
When you work at a high intensity you burn more total calories per kilo of body weight.
High intensity workouts such as weight training and HIIT boost growth hormone levels.
This training elevates metabolism throughout the entire day.
What does this mean for you? The more calories you burn in the day the more weight you lose. Even if weight loss is not your primary goal this training is still ideal as it boosts athletic performance.
Unless you are training for a marathon, you do not naturally keep a constant pace during your sport.
HIIT will not only help your cardiovascular system but will train the ATP/CP system as well, meaning not only will you increase your cardiovascular endurance, but improve your raw speed and explosiveness as well!