ANTIAGING FITNESS PROGRAM
HIGH INTENSITY INTERVAL TRAINING [HIIT]
High Intensity Interval Training [HIIT] – also
known as Cardio Training
Goal Focus: Strength, Cardio Fitness, Fat Burning
The only way to strengthen any muscle is to contract
the muscle against increasingly greater resistance.
When you exercise, you alternately contract and relax
your skeletal muscles. This alternate contraction and
relaxation squeezes the veins near the muscles to pump
blood toward the heart.
Your heart is like a muscular balloon. The increased
flow of blood to your heart stretches the balloon making
the heart contract with greater force to pump the blood
back to the body. This “workout” makes it
stronger.
So, the harder you contract your skeletal muscles,
the more blood you pump toward your heart, the greater
the stretch on the heart, the stronger the body gets,
the stronger the heart gets.
Endurance exercise actually makes the heart, lungs,
and muscles smaller, so they can perform longer with
less energy.
No matter how good you get at HIIT, don’t overdo
it and don’t exceed 20 minutes including the warm
up and cool down.
Types of HIIT exercise, in order of effectiveness:
- Sprinting is best. Use a treadmill; or sprint outside,
using hills for maximum effort.
- Bodyweight Exercises
- Stationary cycling/hill climbing on a road bike
- The Rowing Machine
- The Elliptical Machine/Crosstrainer Machine
- Fast/Incline Walking
Planning
Don’t focus on Spot Training -
A body system that is in balance moves better, stands
straighter (this means looking better in your clothes),
can be trusted to perform physical activities longer
and better and is less likely to sustain injury.
Time of Day – Many believe
doing cardio workouts in the morning, in a fasting state,
results in better fat burning. Others believe that your
nutritional state at this time of day is not adequate
[eg enough protein resources], and you risk burning
muscle instead. Time of day depends largely depends
on your current body composition and nutrition.
In addition to fat/muscle burning consequences, your
oxygen resources after sleeping for 8 hours may be inadequate,
resulting in the production more free radicals, which
in turn reduces energy and damages cells.
The only way to work out which is best for you is
to try one way – measure the results, then try
the other. Stop reading articles on what other people
achieved for their body – it most likely doesn’t
apply to you, and can only lead to confusion.
Workout Routine
Workouts – 1-3 per week
Duration - 20 minutes MAX.
Warm Up – 5 minutes below 85%
of your maximum heart rate
Intensity bursts - up to 85% of your
maximum heart rate.
Max burst - last 1-2 minutes can
be even 90% of your maximum heart rate [NOTE: heart
rate over 85% boosts your free-radical production, so
don’t overdo it].
Guidelines
- The warm up should consist of the same exercise
you are using for your cardiovascular routine. For
example, if you are running, walk first before proceeding
to a jog.
- After your warm up, gradually increase cardiovascular
activity to training speed.
- For optimal body fat reduction, do your cardiovascular
routine immediately after your weight training.
- End with a 5-7 minute cool down. For example, after
running, move to a jog then proceed to a walk.
- Use different interval durations in different workouts
each week and change your type of interval workout
every 14 days.
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