"Let's Burn Fat, Not Time."

Losing weight, burning fat, running further, increasing athletic ability, HIIT, LISS, MetCon, conditioning, cardio.

We all have heard that to improve our fitness or health, we need to be running around town, sprinting up the sidewalks, dripping in sweat and finishing in agonizing pain.  This is false.  To improve our health and look amazing, less can be more.

Let's define common jargon that surrounds health and fitness in terms of cardiovascular training.  Cardio, in general, refers to training for the heart and lungs, enabling the body to perform a repeated task for an extended duration.  Examples being running, walking, cycling, rowing, stair-climbing, jumping jacks, etc.  The heart muscle and the arteries need to be strong and capable in delivering blood all throughout the body to organs, muscles, and tissues to ensure recovery and strength gains. To train this very important system of the body, let's explore a few of the many ways to do so.

Until recently, the over-prescribed method of increasing stamina was to "go out for a run" and "jog a few miles, a couple of times per week."  Through more research and through real-world application in sports' performance, these vague suggestions are just not cutting it anymore. We need to follow human physiology and what the research says; remember, burn fat, not time.  Current research shows that explosive, short durations of cardio are the quickest way to lose body fat and change the way our body looks, feels, and performs.  Most commonly, this type of training is referred to as HIIT, or High Intensity Interval Training. Named after its extreme nature, HIIT is performed by maximizing your energy output, for relatively short bursts, and repeating these bursts up to ten times for a complete workout.  It is best to use large muscle groups for these all-out-sprints, but not completely necessary.  Effective and common ways to sprint are running, cycling, rowing, or even using the horrible Versa Climber.  Try to climb 500 feet on the Versa Climber and send me your time!  The VersaClimber or any other HIIT modality, should take your body's perceived stress to eight or nine (and sometimes ten!!!) out of ten.

HIIT has been shown to drop body fat the fastest, but also comes with the inevitable high stress on your body.  If you are new to exercise, sprints are not for you, at least not for right now.  We need to establish an aerobic base, where the heart and lungs can fully function and create a balanced system within, so that you can come back to normal after those future sprints!  Ensuring a healthy aerobic base means that recovery between training days (and even the recovery between sprints in the same session) will be adequate and won't leave you sore for weeks! You will then be able to deliver nutrients and oxygen at a rapid pace to the depleted muscles, allowing them to recover and grow as strong as you need. 

On the opposite end of the intensity spectrum from HIIT... "LISS".  

Low Intensity Steady State cardiovascular training indicates that one performs lower-effort movements, repeatedly, for a long continuous time.  This type of training would look like a power walk, light jog, easy bike ride or a nice steady-paced swim for upwards of 30-40 minute, without much downtime to rest.  Though much easier on one's body than HIIT,  this training should never be "easy" and needs to take your perceived stress to a five out of ten (easy enough to hold a phone conversation, but hard enough to not WANT to stay on the line). Becoming out of breath and slightly sweaty are always welcomed!  If you are new to training, six weeks are more than enough LISS.  You should be more than ready to try HIIT protocol in your sessions after the initial month and a half. Remember, LISS is simply a tool to arrive at HIIT readiness, where the impressive progress begins.  

Though HIIT is exhausting and usually makes you question your very existence, the outcomes are plentiful.  Aside from losing fat like previously discussed, training in such a vigorous way has been shown to lower blood sugar in diabetics, retain or even grow (hypertrophy) muscle mass, and boost one's VO2 Max to run faster and longer.  Use HIIT training as soon as your body can handle faster-paced sprints and reap the benefits!  

Read below for samples of HIIT to include at the end of your next strength training session!

Running Sprints:

• Option A) Sprint 100m, walk 100 - 200m, repeat four to ten times.

• Option B) Sprint for 0:30 and walk for the next 90 seconds, repeat ten times.

Rower Sprints:

• Option A) Sprint for five calories, recover for five calories, repeat four to ten times.

• Option B) Sprint for 200 meters, recover for 300 meters.

VersaClimber:

• Option A) Sprint 100 feet, recover for 50, repeat four to ten times.

• Option B) Sprint 50 feet with max resistance, recover for 50 without any resistance.

Cycling Sprints on AirDyne:

• Option A) Sprint for ten calories, recover for 10 calories, repeat four to ten times. 

• Option B) Sprint for 0:30 arms and legs, recover for 90 seconds with only legs.