These days, many people are turning to High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) as the ideal way to burn fat and increase their level of fitness. Short bursts at about 75% of your maximum heart rate (or higher) will boost your metabolism, burn more fat at rest, and provide you with a more muscular physique (as opposed to the slight frame of an endurance athlete).
In this article, we have outlined three ways that you can use fitness equipment in a High Intensity Interval Training workout. You will not only slash the amount of time spent at the gym and your personal best, you can also slash that belly!
- Treadmill
Warm up for 3 minutes at around 75% of your 5 kilometre pace (around 10kph should be sufficient). Then, increase the gradient to 10% and continue running for 30 seconds before jumping off the belt. Have a rest for about 30 seconds, during which increase the speed by 5kph. Jump back onto the treadmill for another 30 second sprint before jumping off the belt again. Repeat this process until you can no longer complete the 30 second set (it becomes too fast for you). Allow 3 minutes for recovery, then go back to the beginning and repeat.
- Exercise Bike
Cycle at a low resistance for a 3 minute warm up (start at around 70 to 80rpm). Then, increase the rpm to 90 (or higher). Every 30 seconds, you need to increase the resistance of the exercise equipment by one level whilst maintaining an rpm above 90. Continue to do this until you can no longer hold the rpm above 90 and then stop. Allow 3 minutes for recovery, then go back to the beginning and repeat.
- Rower
Warm up for 3 minutes by rowing at a comfortable pace. Ensure that you’ve set the screen so that it displays the number of calories that you’re burning. At the end of the third minute, launch into maximum effort with the aim of burning as many calories as possible in 60 seconds. Ease off for 60 seconds and then complete another 60 second set. Continue this for the desired number of sets.
If you are interested in using exercise equipment for High Intensity Interval Training, we hope that the above workouts have given you a foundation on which to start. At the end of the day, it’s important to remember that a HIIT routine can provide all the health and fitness benefits of a routine that is continuous but much slower and performed over an extended period.