Stubborn fat. We all have it. The good news is that by incorporating just 15 to 30 minutes of High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) into your day, you can maximize your cardiovascular fitness AND get rid of unwanted fat, once and for all. Even better news is that you don’t have to risk boredom because there are a variety of things you can implement into any effective HIIT workout.

Alternating between periods of intense cardio and periods of recovery is the philosophy of this “interval” type of training. Each interval begins with a short warm up, and followed by a cool down. During the course of the entire workout, these intervals are continually repeated.

Variety is the spice of life. Keeping this philosophy in mind when planning your workouts will help keep you inspired and hold burnout and boredom to a minimum. High Intensity Interval Training is no exception. Having many different ways to go about an individual workout is key, so here are a few suggestions.

The Ladder: Start with a set recovery period of 30 seconds, then hit the intensity for a 15 second sprint. That’s one rung of the ladder. For rung number two, increase the sprint time by 5 seconds to 20. The next rung, 25, the next 30. You get the pattern. Keep going until you get to 45 seconds of the highest intensity you can handle. Now work your way back down the ladder, decreasing 5 seconds on each rung of the ladder until you get back to where you began–15 seconds. Remember to alternate with the 30 seconds of recovery between each interval of greater intensity.

Short Ladder: This is the same concept as the Ladder, but with fewer rungs and hitting the high intensity intervals for longer periods.

Recovery Ladder: With this workout, the sprint period is stagnant, but the recovery period decreases by 10 seconds on each rung of the ladder until you get down to 10 seconds of resting time. Then work your way back up 10 seconds of recovery per rung until you arrive at your starting point, all the while keeping the periods of high intensity the same.

Set Distance: Rather than timing the periods of intensity, this method uses a predetermined distance. This is most useful when you are doing a workout where distance can actually be determined such as swimming in a pool, running on a track, or using a treadmill, elliptical machine, or stationary bike that can measure distance. Setting a time limit is still required. To illustrate, let’s say you set the interval at one minute. Sprint one length of the predetermined distance. Take your recovery until the minute is over, then repeat.

The goal is to get faster each time so that you get a greater period of recovery for every interval. Eventually, with each successive interval, your body will have a decreased ability to recover, and it will therefore take longer to go that specified distance.

Filed under: High Intensity Interval Training

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