CARDIO vs. HIIT trainer tip #22 7.25.17

It's trainer tip Tuesday....and I'm talking HIIT vs. steady state cardio. I'm always emphasizing to people that unless endurance is your goal, steady state cardio is not an absolutely necessary component to a balanced fitness regimen. You can get the fat burning and cardio-respiratory effect through your strength training workouts by incorporating supersets. But you can also perform strength work as HIIT to maximize your time and your effort for MAXIMUM results. HIIT, or high-intensity interval training, is a training technique in which you give all-out, one hundred percent effort through quick, intense bursts of exercise, followed by short, sometimes active, recovery periods. This type of training gets and keeps your heart rate up and burns more fat in less time. A high-intensity workout increases the body’s need for oxygen during the effort and creates an oxygen shortage, causing your body to ask for more oxygen during recovery. This afterburn effect is referred to as Excess Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption EPOC and is the reason why intense exercise will help burn more fat and calories than regular steady-state cardio workouts.

More benefits of HIIT include: 1. It Increases Your Metabolism Combing high intensity with interval strength training speeds your metabolic rate and creates a metabolism boost for up to 48 hours after a complete HIIT workout (this is the AFTER BURN I'm always talking about!). This means you’ll still be burning fat even after you’ve left the gym and calories at a super high rate for up to 48 hours and your muscles recover, repair and grow. 2. It's Quick And Convenient Think you don't have time or a place for a workout? VCN HIIT workouts can be done anywhere: at home, in a hotel room, in a park, etc. with as little as a yoga mat sized space and VCN HIIT workouts are 45 minutes or less....Who can’t spare that? 3. No Equipment Necessary No dumbbells? No problem! VCN HIIT workouts generally use only your body weight, since the focus is on getting your heart rate up and keeping it there. These workouts result in muscle building and muscle retention coupled with fat loss and increased calorie burn. Adding weighted exercises performed with proper form to the mix and you are ramping it up to an 11! But if you don't have dumbbells at home or wherever you happen to be, think creatively and use filled water bottles, canned foods or even wine bottles as weights! Ready for a challenge? TRY A FULL LENGTH VCNfitness HIIT CLASS. Head over to my online studio, purchase and download a class video and it's yours to keep...30-45 minutes of intense fat burning and strengthening work using only your bodyweight and dumbbells in the comfort of your own home. YOU CAN!