Interval training workouts that alternate high-intensity levels with low-intensity efforts are the key to fat burning. This formula keeps your body burning the calories even after you’ve stopped working out……
Interval training workouts that alternate high-intensity levels with low-intensity efforts are the key to fat burning. This formula keeps your body burning the calories even after you’ve stopped working out. Interval training helps you to get the most of your working regimen.
Interval training is not complicated as you think. This form of exercise mimics sports which include the start and stop motions with periods of sprinting or close to racing speeds that are followed by light jogging or rest. The best part of interval training is that you can use these workouts anywayyou want, for example, swimming, running, cycling, walking and even on elliptical trainers.
Interval training can jazz up your workout routine and offers you some great benefits. It helps you to burn more calories, significantly improves your aerobic capacity, adds variety and keeps boredom at bay and best of all you can just modify your current routine and don’t need any special equipment.
A recent research study says that interval training helps mitochondria stave off old age. The researchers found that biking and walking produced more proteins for the energy-producing mitochondria and protein building ribosomes and stop aging at cellular level.
Why Interval Training?
Increase efficiency. Your heart is a muscle so if you keep it beating at a constant rate never expanding it outside its comfort zone; It will never grow. However, when you throw in some intervals during your exercise sessions, your heart will work harder, pump in more blood and work harder to return to normal levels which will ultimately boost its efficiency.
Interval training gives you a healthier physique: Not only do you burn more calories during aninterval workout, but the intense exertion kicks off your body’s repair cycle into hyper drive. It helps you to burn more fat and calories. While steady state cardio enhances muscle loss, studies show that interval training allows dieters to preserve their hard-earned muscle while ensuring most of the weight loss comes from fat stores.
Interval training improves your aerobic and anaerobic capacity: Dr. Tabata’s study on moderate and high- intensity interval training showed that high-intensity intermittent training improves both anaerobic and aerobic body systems while aerobic exercise only improves aerobic systems.
Exercises
One Minute Interval Cardio Workout
Tutorial: Amanda Russell
Note: To increase the time span you can increase the number of minutes or reps.
High knees 1 minute: Keep your mind focused and core tight. Get your knees worked out for 60 seconds. Then follow it up with active recovery for 30 secs. Just keep your legs wide apart and move your arms down and all the way up.
Plank jacks: Get down into plank position and jack out your legs. Come back to active recovery.
Frog hops: Keep your hands behind your head and squat down. Then jump forward.Do these reps for one minute and come back to the active recovery phase.
Single leg hops: Choose your leg to drive your knee and hop it up. One minute of these exercises and back to active recovery. Repeat with the other leg.
Jumping jacks: Stand with your feet together. Jump your feet out with your arms raised. Immediately come back to the starting position. Back to your active recovery.
Turkish get-ups: Lay all the way down and without any support get up at once. You can use a single hand for extra support and do it as a modification.
Speed skaters: Go from side to side and drive your opposite arms to your opposite knee after jumping. Follow up with active recovery.
Jump ropes: If you have ropes you can use it. Otherwise, you can pretend jumping rope. Move from side to side, back and forth, etc.
Barrier jumps: Picture an obstacle down the floor. Keep your arms down and jump the hurdle from side to side. Finish with active recovery. Finally, do some stretches.
Jump Rope-Fat Burning Cardio HIIT Skipping Home Workout
Skipping ropes helps you to burn calories faster. According to Science Daily, 10 minutes of jumping rope is equivalent to running an 8-minute mile. It builds agility and quickness, increases bone density, boosts your brain health by enhancing your coordination, rhythm, and strategy, and is most affordable and highly portable.
Tutorial: Millionaire Hoy
Workout structure: 50 seconds on 10 seconds rest for each move.
Light ropes: Warm up with a slight jump rope. Hop twice on the left side and the right. Start slower and increase your speed.
Boxer skips: Do one jump, then do two sets of two jumps.
High knees exercise: Bring your knees up, lock in your abs, swing your rope and breathe in and out.
Front to back shift skips (butt kick hops): Jump forward, back, bouncing in the middle alternating your feet.
Butt kick hops: Lock your abs, keep on swinging and maintain your form together.
Take 15 seconds rest.
Speed ropes: Bring your knees high up and skip the line faster. Increase your speed gradually.
Side to side high knee ropes: Jump up skipping your lines and move on either side.
Follow the listed skipping steps in order, with 50 seconds of jumping and 10 seconds rest.
- Criss cross skips
- 1-2 double under
- Three-way jump ropes
- Calf ab hops
- Freestyle ropes
- Hip twist skips
- Deep lunge ropes
- High-low jumps
- Jump Jack skip
- Reverse ropes
- 180 jump ropes
- Front to back sprint ropes
- High-speed ropes
Stretches
Bent rockers: Fold your arms, bend and rock your body from side to side. Follow it up with cat stretch, side stretch (left and right), ham stretch (left and right) and finish off your exercise regimen with Flamingo (left and right) pulls.
60-minute Tabata HIIT, Abs, and Obliques Workout
Source: Fitness Blender
Workout structure:
- 6-minute cardio warm up
- 48 mins HIIT and abs routine
- 6-minute cool down and stretch
3 Torso twists+ knee: Rotate shoulders back and forth three times. On the third one, you pull the knee and the opposite elbow just near to each other.
Toe touch circles: Keep feet shoulder width apart, make a nice circular motion around the torso reaching downwards. Repeat back and forth.
Follow it up with:
- Oblique high knee pulls and
- Lateral step moves
Butt kickers: Bring your heels up and move fast to pump up your heart rate.
Side shuffles: Lunge onto one hand, kick off your leg behind, shift your feet a couple of times to the left and right.
Mountain climber switch + knees: Come to a mountain climber pose and change your legs. Jump up to your standing position and repeat.
Mini scissor kicks: Lie down, lift your legs and move your feet in a vertical plane to create the scissoring action.
Follow it up with Switch leg burpees and 2 Jacks+ high kick exercises.
Toe tap crunches: Bring your knees to a tabletop position and crunch up dropping one foot at a time.
Take a water break and start with two Heel Taps + Walk Down Plank and proceed to Side Plank Toe Touches.
4 High knees + floor tap: Do two high knees on each leg and hit the floor alternating your hands. Again, do the side plank toe touches.
Russian Twists: Sit down and leaning back to about 45-degree angle rotate your shoulders and kick out your elbows.
Cool down and do these stretches: shoulder rolls, Hamstring + shoulder stretch, Shell stretch and torso twist, glutes stretch and finally oblique and hamstrings stretch.
Fartlek Workout
Fartlek means “speed play” in Swedish. This form of training combines continuous training with speed intervals in an unstructured format that strengthens both aerobic and anaerobic energy systems. The speed and intensity vary however and whenever you want. You can walk, jog, and sprint for any distance or length of time and in any order.
This 30-minute Fartlek workout involves a variety of speed to give you a good running workout. Focus on running fast enough to increase your heart rate. Try to run each interval faster than the last.
30-minute Fartlek Run
Source: thisrunnersrecipes.com
- Warm up 5-minute easy run
- 5 minutes hard run (half marathon run)
- 1-minute easy recovery phase
- 4 minutes hard run (10 miler effort)
- 1-minute easy recovery phase
- Run 3 minutes harder (10k effort)
- 1 minute easy
- Run 2 minutes harder (5k effort)
- 1 minute hardest (Sprint)
- Cool down 5-minute easy run
Cycling Workouts
“Stationary bikes are great for everyone of all fitness levels,” Jennifer Tallman, an indoor cycling instructor at New York Sports Clubs, tells SELF Magazine. Tallman suggests doing intervals rather than constant cycling because it gives you the biggest fat burning payoff on a stationary bike.
- Easy. Flat road
- Moderate. You will start to breathe heavily, you’ll feel like you’re up on a slight incline on a small hill.
- Hard. You are working at this point. You would be using medium to high resistance.
- All-out. You’re using the heaviest resistance while still can push your legs.
Stationary Bike Interval Workout
Source: Self.com
| Time | Intensity | Reps |
| 5 minutes | Easy warm up | |
| 30 seconds | hard | X 4 |
| 30 seconds | moderate | X 4 |
| 1 minute | easy | |
| 1 minute | hard | X 4 |
| 30 seconds | moderate | X 4 |
| 45 seconds | All-out | X 3 |
| 15 seconds | easy | X 3 |
| 2 minutes | easy | |
| Challenge | Repeat entire circuit | One more time |
| 5 minutes | Easy cool down |
Fat Burning Plyometric Workout
Tutorial:Fitness Blender
Workout structure:
- 5 Plyometric exercises
- Ten reps with
- Two rounds each with one-minute rest
Broad jumps: Set a marker for yourself and make a broad jump. Switch around and jump to the starting point.
Knee tuck jumps: These leaps increase your overall effort level. Get into a nice deep squat and jump up in the air as high as you possibly can. Take your time reset those feet, and make the jump.
Power jacks: Spread out your feet. Squat down nice and low then, get your hands come above your head and jump. Bring your arms to your thighs, slap those thighs and go back to nice deep squat before you do it again.
Jumping lunge: Step forward into a lunge, keep your knees barely off the ground and jump straight switching those feet at the top range of motion. Come back down with your opposite leg forward directly back into that lunge, then jump straight back up. Keep pushing up as hard as you can.
Box jumps: You need a chair or Plyo box for this exercise. Stand up on top of that Plyo box, and jump down. Then step back on the box and make the same motion all over.
Interval Pool Moves to Burn Calories
Source: PopSugar Fitness
Sprint: Start kicking your knees as high as you can towards your chest. Move your legs as fast as you can as if you’re running a race. Just think you’re running an aqua sprint. Get your arms pumping up. If you’re under the water, then this action needs a little bit more effort from your upper body. Do 15 reps with 60 seconds rest.
Push up on the wall: you’re going to start down in the water and keep your hands securely on the side of the wall. You can use the side of the pool to get you initiated all the way up. With a bit of help from the side of the bath, extend your arms all the way then slowly pushes back down into the water. Come up and kick your feet and come down. This action works the muscles of the shoulders, triceps, and chest. Do 20 reps with 1-minute rest.
Jump with knee tuck: Plunge into the water till it covers your shoulders. Now jump up and tuck your knees into your chest. Use your arms for balance and stability. Jump and tuck. You’ll find that your lower legs get fired up. Adding the knee tuck works your core. Do 15-20 reps with 1-minute rest.
Hurdle jump: Pretend that there is a hurdle, right underneath the bottom of the pool. Keep your feet together, tuck your knees up, and jump over the hurdle to the other side and then back. This exercise works a little bit of the lateral muscle groups. Do 15-20 reps with 1-minute rest.
Water treader: You must be in the deep end of the water and move your legs as if you’re running. Just make sure to bend your knees and extend your legs. Use your upper body to help you keep afloat. Perform the exercise for 30 seconds with 1-minute rest.
Conclusion
The principals of interval training are the same for everyone. If you’re working towards a specific fitness goal, you may want to take a more scientific approach. But if you only want to vary your exercise routine you can determine the length and speed of each intensity interval based on how you feel that day.
This form of training isn’t appropriate for everyone. If you have a chronic health condition, have a word with your doctor before trying any interval training. Research studies say that even individuals with heart disease can perform short periods of interval training. Utilizing the services of a fitness instructor or an expert will be highly beneficial in this regard.
Finally, a word of caution, never rush out into a strenuous workout before your body is ready, you may end up injuring your muscles, tendons, and bones. Start slowly and as your stamina improves challenge yourself to vary the pace. You’ll be amazed by the results.
Source: 7 Interval Training Regimen You Can Do In 1 Hour
