HIIT Cardio on the Elliptical to Burn Fat

What if I were to tell you that you could throw out your 60 minute cardio training workout and get even better results in just 4 minutes using HIIT (high intensity interval training)? Could you get excited about it?

What if I told you those 4 minute HIIT cardio workouts were even more effective at burning fat for a longer period time than low to moderate intensity cardio training?

The good news is you can stop wasting so much time on the elliptical trainer and get a more efficient workout using interval training. In this article, I am going to explain why high intensity interval training is more effective and give you 2 ways you can modify your elliptical training workouts to be more efficient.

One important reason interval training is more effective – Excess Post Oxygen Consumption (EPOC). When training at low to moderate intensity your body utilizes fat as its primary fuel source, thereby leaving its reserve of emergency fuel known as glycogen virtually untouched. Glycogen is simply a form of carbohydrate that is stored in the liver and in muscle.

The body utilizes incredible amounts of its stored carbohydrate when you exercise at high intensities. When your glycogen stores run low or completely out while exercising at very high intensity, you “hit the wall” and slow down in a hurry.

The body has to replenish the glycogen that was used during your interval training workout as quickly as possible. So, it has to work overtime long after your workout is complete.

How does it replenish its glycogen stores? It converts fat to glycogen. So really, you burn fat a lot longer after your hiit cardio exercise routine has ended than you would with a low to moderate intensity workout.

The effect of this post workout utilization can be measured by determining the amount of excess oxygen you are consuming after exercise. Your body is working hard to convert your stored fat into glycogen so that you can be ready to perform at a high intensity again. Who knows when you might have to run away from that bear?

So how do you modify your cardio workout on the elliptical to make it a super charged fat burning hiit cardio workout?

1. Crank Up the Incline: Raise the incline of the elliptical trainer so that you are working at your maximum. Do this for 20 seconds and then return to a normal level for 10 seconds. Repeat this cycle 8 times and you have yourself one butt kicker of a workout known as a Tabata interval training protocol.

2. Increase the Resistance: By increasing the resistance you are making your muscles work as hard as possible. Just like with the incline, maintain the resistance for 20 seconds and then reduce it to a lower level for 10 seconds. Repeat the cycle 8 times and your 4 minute Tabata workout is complete.

Hiit cardio on the elliptical is more effective for burning fat fast than lower to moderate intensity exercise and requires much less time. The glycogen that you use up during your interval training session will need to be replaced fast. So, long after your workout, your body will be working overtime burning fat in order to restore what was used. Some research suggests that you continue to burn fat at an elevated rate for up to 24 hours after your interval training workout ended.

Fat Loss Secrets Revealed:  Proven Methods to Get Six Pack Abs
by Aaron Ivey ATC, CSCS

Some strategies work better than others for getting rid of belly fat and showing off the six pack abs underneath.  Unveiling the six pack doesn’t need to be a complicated or tricky process.  However, it seems that it has become more complicated as more and more advice is thrown around without sound science to support it.  Here are 3 proven ways to reveal the six pack abs that are waiting to be discovered.

1. Control the diet
The first and most important strategy for gaining a six pack set of abs is to take control over what you put in your body.  Nobody will notice the ripped abdominal muscles you have if you cover them up with unwanted fat.  Exercise is certainly very important, but if have the strongest and most toned abs ever and nobody can see them, it doesn’t help you look good.

There is a lot of confusion in the diet world right now because so many different programs and opinions are out there about losing weight and what a healthy should consist of.  Just pay attention to the headlines of magazines and mainstream media – the newest and greatest method seems to be revealed weekly.

The truth is that a healthy diet is one that comes directly from the ground.  It is best to consume whole fruits and vegetables with as little processing as possible.  Whole grains are a great source of healthy fiber.  Eating good quality meat will give the right types of fat and vitamins in order to produce the hormones and energy that is needed to recover from a workout.

2. Intensity
Focusing on the intensity of the workout is the second most important thing to consider.  Workouts should consist of high intensity, short duration exercises with equal rest periods in between. You should also focus on working the whole body rather than isolated muscles.  This gives you the most metabolic challenge possible and will therefore stimulate your body to make the changes necessary to become more efficient at burning fat and slimming down.

3. Abdominal training
It may come as no surprise that working your abdominal muscles would be the third component.  To train the abdominal muscles correctly and get real results, forget about crunches and situps.  These exercises have their place for those that are deconditioned and need a basic way to get started.  They are not the most effective abdominal exercise.

Effective abdominal training involves exercises that focus on rotation, stabilization, and deceleration of the trunk.  Ideally, if you can combine all three of these into one exercise you will have yourself a great abdominal exercise.  Most of the time, if you are performing a whole body exercise, you are also training your abdominal muscles the way they were intended.

Getting rid of excess body fat is going to be the most effective way to show off definition in the abs and midsection.  The most effective exercises to burn fat are complex, whole body movements such as swings and snatches, combinations of squats or lunges with a push or pull movement.  To look good, focus on these 3 things and you will get the body that you deserve.

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Revealing Your Six Pack Abs:  Mistakes Most People Make
by Aaron Ivey ATC, CSCS

I am a little bit of a people watcher.  I look to observe the techniques and methods that people are using to try and get in shape.  Over the years I have observed some mistakes that many people seem to make that really get them nowhere.  In this article, I discuss 2 of the biggest mistakes that people make and how to fix it.

It is very important to train your abdominal muscles, there is no doubt about it.  However, if they are “cleverly disguised” and nobody can see them, it doesn’t do you much good.  Having a visible six pack of abs is mostly about getting your body fat  percentage to a level that will reveal the hard work that you have put in to strengthening your abdominal muscles.

Getting rid of body fat is a combination of nutrition and the right kind of exercise.  You need to stoke the fat burning furnace in order for the body to want to burn fat.  That just doesn’t happen by working small muscle groups.  You must work the whole body with complex movements rather than focus on bicep curls.  Focus more on using a combination of large muscle groups like the legs, back and chest.  These complex motions create a lot of demand on the body to produce energy and adapt to the overload.  Some researchers suggest that high intensity exercise stimulates hormones that burn more fat and build more muscle.

As far as the diet goes, it should consist of the most natural form of foods possible.  Focus on foods as unprocessed as possible.  Instead of consuming fruit juices, eat the whole fruit.  Whole fruits have a lot of fiber and good sugar that will actually help to regulate your blood sugar correctly.  Additionally, whole fruits and vegetables pack a punch when it comes to vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants necessary to repair damaged cells and create healthy new ones.

Choose whole grains over refined grains.  Whole grains also contain a great supply of fiber, vitamins, minerals, protein, and essential fats.  Yes, you need fat in your diet.  Hormones are dependent upon them.  Other good sources of healthy fat are nuts, avocados, fish, eggs, organically grown meat, etc.

There really is nothing complicated about how to show off your six pack.  Don’t be fooled by the latest gimmick or device, diet, etc. claiming to be the newest and best thing.  A balance of ALL of the macronutrients is necessary for a healthy diet.  The combination will provide all of the necessary building blocks your body needs.

interval training

Interval Training: How Does it Burn Fat? (The Answer Totally Makes Sense)

Traditionally, we have been told by many so called experts that if we wanted to burn fat then we need to train in the “fat burning zone.”  According to these experts, training in the fat burning zone is the only way to burn fat when you exercise.  Well, they are right.  If you want to burn fat during your workout, do some long boring cardio in the fat burning zone.  But, if you want to triple the amount of fat that you burn, do interval training workouts.  Some basic physiology tells us how interval training burns fat long after you finish your workout.

High intensity interval training exhausts your supply of immediate carbohydrates that are stored in the muscles.  This supply is known as glycogen.  The phosphocreatine system and the glycolytic system are dependent upon glycogen stored in the muscles and the liver.

Interval training demands energy so quickly that fat stores are not able to provide energy rapidly enough to keep up with demand.  Interval training requires carbohydrate stores, glycogen to be specific, to supply the fast energy that is needed.  During your recovery period and the hours after your workout when there is plenty of oxygen present and the demand for energy quickly has slowed down, your body utilizes your fat stores to convert that fat into glycogen for the next time you workout with a high intensity.  This process of replacing the fast energy stores that you used up during your interval training workout may take hours to completely restore the glycogen stores.

So, the secret to burning fat is to not burn fat during your workout.  Burn for hours afterwards by exhausting your glycogen stores.

interval training

High Intensity Interval Training:  Why is it So Effective?
by Aaron Ivey  ATC, CSCS

The comparisons between high intensity short duration exercise (HIT) and low to moderate intensity long duration exercise (LSD) continue to spark conversation and controversy.  While there is no doubt that research suggests long, slow endurance type training does have some benefits, can high intensity training be more effective for the average person?

This article is meant to outline why high intensity interval training workouts are the effective alternative to long, slow exercise.  I will outline 6 reasons why interval training is so effective for fat loss, increased cardiovascular conditioning and general health.

1.    Muscle changes:  As the intensity of a particular activity  increases, more muscle fibers are needed to perform the activity.  The highly intense nature of HIT elicits rapid changes in muscle chemistry to be able to tolerate such an increase in recruitment.
2.    Increase fat utilization:  HIT contractions stimulate nerve pathways that increase the amount of energy producing structures (mitochondria) in muscle fibers.  These are the structures responsible for burning fat.
3.    Time efficient:  Some studies have used training protocols as short as 4 minutes of total workout time and produced similar, if not better, results than LSD training.  The average HIT workout usually lasts about 20 minutes. That is 40 minutes less than the recommended time to complete an LSD workout.  I do not about you but I would rather be finished in 1/3 of the time and get even better results.
4.    After burners:  HIT has been shown to increase metabolism for hours after the workout ended.  LSD effects usually stop after you are done with your workout.  Though it is difficult to get an exact number, some research suggests that even more calories are burned in the hours after a workout than were burned during the workout.
5.    Range of populations:  HIT can be performed by a range of populations from the elite athlete to someone recovering from coronary artery disease. Research is now showing effective results for cardiac rehabilitation by using HIT.  Granted the intensity is not going to be the same for the cardiac patient and the elite athlete, but the principle remains.  Even the out of shape, obese person is more likely to tolerate 30 seconds of high intensity than 60 minutes of running on a treadmill.
6.    Long-term adherence:  Because HIT workouts can be done quickly and show results within as little as 2 weeks, those that use HIT are more likely to continue a training program than those who start an LSD training program. Not to mention, there are more exercise possibilities to reduce boredom with HIT program.

HIT has been shown consistently to effectively reduce fat, get in shape, and make necessary changes within the muscles to allow for greater well being.  HIT can be used by nearly everyone in one form or another and provides enough variety to prevent boredom and increase the likelihood of long term adherence.

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Interval Training – Challenge Any of the 3 Energy Systems

At the root of all training routines is the need to make the body more efficient at producing energy for your given activity, whether that is a sport, general health or life.  If you are not training specific to the energy requirements of your activity you may be wasting your time.  This article will look at what those energy systems are and give a better idea of what you may need to do to challenge those energy systems.
All of the body’s energy requirements are supplied by a chemical called ATP.  The breakdown of ATP produces an enormous amount of energy but the body can not store a large quantity of it.  It must replace the ATP that is used in a fast and efficient manner.  It does this in 3 major ways.  Though protein can be used to produce energy, it eventually ends up in one of the 3 major pathways and will not be discussed.
1.  Creatine phosphate system (PCr) – By far the fastest source of energy, the PCr system will only sustain energy requirements for a matter of seconds, not usually more that 10-15 seconds.  Think of the tip of a match, it will only burn for a few seconds but is enough to start the next system.  The PCr system is will suited for high intensity, short duration activities.  It can operate independent of oxygen supply (anaerobic).
2.  Glycolytic system – This system is somewhat like the kindling of a fire.  The glycolytic system relies on carbohydrate breakdown to “rebuild” ATP.  This carbohydrate is stored in the muscle and liver as glycogen.  The breakdown of carbohydrate can sustain energy requirements for a much longer period of time than the PCr system, up to 2 minutes according to some sources, and can also function without oxygen (anaerobic).
Two end products are produced through the glycolytic process: pyruvate and lactate.  The production of pyruvate is known as slow glycolysis and can be combined with oxygen to produce more ATP.  The production of lactate is known as fast glycolysis and can later be converted to pyruvate.
3.  Oxidative system – This may be compared to the oak log on the fire that can burn for a long period of time but takes some time to get started.  The oxidative system can use pretty much any substrate (fat, carbohydrate, protein) to rebuild ATP molecules.  It takes a much longer time but is very efficient.  The processes involved in the production are very complicated and are outside of the scope of this article.  However, this is the system that burns the fat that we want to get rid of.
Simply put, our energy systems are very similar to the building of a sustainable winter fire.  First we need a fast source of energy to ignite (a match), and slightly longer source to continue the fire (the kindling) until the logs will burn and put out the heat (the log).  To learn how to train these energy systems so that they will become more efficient go to training your energy systems.

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Specific Formula to Charge Your Energy Systems

In a previous article I outlined a basic model of how your body produces the ATP necessary to power your body.  That’s all great in theory but how do you apply that to your interval training workout?  Each sport or activity has different energy system requirements.  How do you tweak your interval training workout to get the most out of the energy system that dominates your sport?
Though all of the energy systems mentioned are active at any given time, depending on the intensity of the activity, one system may be more active than the others.  In this article I am going to give you a formula that you can use to specifically train the energy system that dominates the energy demands in your sport.

Training the Phosphocreatine (PCr) System
The PCr is most utilized during activities that require short bursts of high intensity.  Some examples may include weightlifting, sprinting, baseball, football, etc.  These sports require all out effort for less than 10-15 seconds.
When designing an interval training program consider the amount of time you will be exerting a maximal amount of effort and add about 5-10 seconds.  That will become the time for your work phase.  Now multiply that number by 3 to calculate the rest phase.  This is known as a 1 to 3 work to rest ratio.  So, if you are doing a work phase of 20 seconds, your rest phase will be 60 seconds.

Training the Glycolytic System
The glycolytic system is able to sustain high intensity activity for up to 3 minutes depending on the intensity of the activity.  The greater the intensity, the shorter duration that glycolysis is able to sustain the activity. Sports that may rely most heavily on the glycolytic system include soccer, basketball and hockey.  These sports require bursts of effort greater than 10 seconds with some limited rest in between intense bouts.
An interval training program should be designed according to the amount of time you will be performing at maximum intensity.  Your work to rest ratio is going to be more like 1:2.  For example, the work phase may be between 30 seconds to 90 seconds.  The rest phase would be 2x that of the work phase.  So, 30 seconds of high intensity work and 60 seconds of rest.

Training the Oxidative System
Though interval training challenges mostly the PCr and glycolytic systems, some research studies suggest that improving power output through interval training can improve endurance performance.
The oxidative system is the fat burning furnace of the body.  It takes a longer time to produce the ATP necessary to fuel the body, however, it creates about 10x more ATP than PCr and glycolysis.  That is why your body tries so hard to hang on to it.  Sports that rely on the oxidative system most heavily are those that require a light to moderate intensity over a sustained period of time greater than 3 minutes.
To use interval training for your endurance sport use a 1:1 work to rest ratio.  Your intensity should be greater than what you would normally compete at.  A good example of traditional interval training protocols for endurance sports is Fartlek training.  For example, sprint for 3-6 minutes and then slow down to a jog for the same amount of time.  Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.
Regardless of what sport or activity you participate in, you can design an interval training program that will supercharge the energy system that your body relies most heavily on.  It is important to vary your program every 3-4 weeks so that your body is constantly challenged.  Most importantly, have fun with it.  Interval training provides so many different options that you should never get bored.

8 Benefits of Interval Training

What are the benefits of interval training? Why would I switch from doing my traditional cardio routine? Does it really work if I am not working hard for at least an hour? These are a couple of questions that I hear all the time with clients and injured athletes that I work with. Here are the top 8 benefits of an interval training workout routine.

1. Interval training is similar to everyday activities. Most of us are not trying to work at a moderate to high intensity for a long period of time throughout the day. We naturally take breaks and actively rest in between intense activities. Interval training prepares us for the sudden bursts of intense activity or stress that we experience.

2. Interval training improves the body’s ability to utilize oxygen. It won’t matter how efficient your lungs are at getting oxygen to the working muscles if the muscles are not able to pull it out of the blood stream. This is referred to as oxidative capacity. The measure of oxidative capacity is referred to as VO2max (the maximum amount of oxygen that your muscles can extract from the blood and use). Interval training workouts have been shown to significantly increase a person’s ability to utilize oxygen. One study showed a 100% increase.

3. Interval training workouts are fast. You won’t need to spend hours in the gym running at the same speed for 1-2 hours. In fact, You can get the same or better benefits by doing an interval training workout that lasts a total of 4 minutes (Tabata workout) as you would with a 1 hour run at about 65% of your maximum.

4. Improve your fat burning ability. Interval training nearly exhausts your muscles carbohydrate reserves known as glycogen. It would seem sort of backwards that interval training could improve fat burning if it uses carbohydrates as a primary fuel source. However, those glycogen stores have to be replaced somehow. What fuel source is left to take care of that? Fat! Fat! And more fat! During the hours after your workout your body uses fat to replace the glycogen that you depleted.

5. Train for any sport with interval training. If you notice, there are workouts available to train for just about anything from short sprints to marathons. By changing the amount of time you rest versus the amount of time you are working at near maximum effort, you can train different energy systems that dominate your specific sport.

6. Human growth hormone (HGH) production increases with interval training. HGH is necessary for repair of tissue damage as well as building new tissue like muscle. This has even been shown to increase in older populations. HGH will help you recover more quickly and be prepared for your next workout.

7. Interval training improves the efficiency of the heart. There are two ways to improve how much blood is pumped through your body. First is the volume of blood that the heart expels. Second is the rate at which the heart pumps the blood (heart rate). Have you ever wondered why a fit person has a lower heart rate than average Joe? Interval training strengthens the heart. In doing so the heart is able to pump more volume and therefore won’t have to pump as many times. Imagine how much blood can be circulated when your heart rate increases and the volume that the blood pumps increase together. Some studies suggest that interval training type workouts are beneficial for those with heart disease.

8. Interval training reduces the body’s dependence on insulin. Insulin is essential for transporting sugar, in the form of glucose, into a cell for energy. Just ask any one who is diabetic. During high intensity exercise your body produces lactate. The truth is that lactate production is a good thing. Lactate can be transported into a cell much more easily than glucose and without the need of insulin. Lactate can then be converted easily into pyruvate which is a major chemical used to produce fast energy. This is good news for diabetics and non-diabetics.

There you have it: 8 benefits of interval training workouts. I’m sure we could find many more reasons to do interval training workouts rather than traditional cardio.

Why Cardio Doesn’t Work for Fat Loss

By: Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
www.TurbulenceTraining.com

Cardio exercise is such a strange thing. In theory, it should work
so perfectly well for all men and women, but as anyone who has
tried it knows, the practicality of it just doesn’t add up.

After all, some men and women do cardio 6 hours, 9 hours, or more per week, and still have belly fat to burn. On the other hand, it works just fine for others.

British researchers wanted to get more insight into this paradox, and studied 35 overweight men and women, who weren’t previously exercising.

(Reference: International Journal of Obesity 32: 177-184, 2008).

Subjects exercised 5 times per week for 12 weeks. That’s a lot of
exercise, but it helped the subjects lose an average of 8.2 pounds, which is great – I was positively surprised by the results.

So cardio will work for some people, however, in my experience, it works best in young men, who need the help the least!

Back to the study, the variance in fat loss between individuals was huge. Check this out…

The best subject lost a staggering 32.3 pounds in 12 weeks, while the worst subject actually GAINED 3.74 pounds.

The scientists think they know where things went sour. They
classified the subjects into 2 groups, called the “Compensators”
and the “Non-compensators”.

The Compensators were hungrier, and as a result consumed an extra 268 calories per day, all but wiping out their cardio efforts.

Therefore, the Compensators lost the least amount of weight, and scientists believe that was due to the huge “compensatory” increase in appetite experienced by this group.

Does your appetite increase when you do slow cardio? If it does,
research shows it will ruin your cardio efforts.

So if your cardio program is not working for you, check your
appetite and calorie intake to see if you are “compensating” for
your efforts. If you are, you might be better off using a program
of high-intensity resistance and interval training (i.e. Turbulence Training) for your weight loss efforts.

As Australian Professor Steve Boucher has shown in research,
interval training increases hormones called catecholamines. And
increased catecholamines can reduce appetite, among other fat-
burning benefits.

In the real world, few people lose 33 pounds after 12 weeks of
cardio. Heck, few even achieve an average weight loss of 8 pounds with aerobic exercise.

So again, check your appetite, and consider giving high-intensity
exercise a go for your next workout program.

Beat the curse of cardio with high-intensity Turbulence Training.

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Author, Turbulence Training
About the Author

Learn about the “Dark Side of Cardio” in the free report from Craig Ballantyne at www.TurbulenceTraining.com. Craig is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and writes for Men’s Health, Men’s Fitness, Maximum Fitness, Muscle and Fitness Hers, and Oxygen magazines. His trademarked Turbulence Training fat loss workouts have helped thousands of men and women around the world lose fat, gain muscle, and get lean in less than 45 minutes three times per week. For more information on the Turbulence Training workouts that will help you burn fat without long, slow cardio sessions or fancy equipment, visit www.TurbulenceTraining.com

Why You Should Try Interval Training

Try Turbulence Training

For the longest time, most of us thought that the only way to burn fat and calories was to trudge through long, steady workouts, watching the minutes tick past at a glacial pace. While there’s no doubt that those slow, steady workouts have a place in any routine, particularly for building endurance, there’s another type of training that offers different types of benefits: interval training. This type of training, which involves alternating high intensity exercise with rest periods, makes workouts more fun and it can also:

* Enhance athletic performance
* Boost your cardio fitness
* Accelerate weight loss
* Improve your body’s ability to burn fat
* Make your workouts more time efficient

The reason they work so well is that, first, the more you shake up your body during the workout, the more energy your body expends getting your body back to normal after the workout. Second, interval training works regardless of fitness level and, by increasing your intensity for short periods of time, you teach your body how to work harder without killing yourself.

Make Your Own Interval Workouts

You can make your own interval workout by alternating high intensity activities (think sprinting, jump roping, power jumps, jumping jacks or anything that challenges your heart rate) for a period of time with low intensity moves (walking, marching in place, etc.). The general recommendation is to work at maximal effort for 1-4 minutes (long enough to become breathless) and recover for 5-10 minutes.

But, there are other ways to create an interval workout. You can make your intervals anaerobic, meaning you push as hard as you can, or you can keep the intervals aerobic, meaning you stay within about 75-85% of your maximum heart rate.

By Paige Waehner, About.com Guide to Exercise since 2000