HIIT: How To Burn Fat, FAST

Want to reduce body fat to show off great muscle definition and a lean, toned body?

Don’t want to spend hours in the gym trudging away on a treadmill or cross trainer?

Willing to commit to working hard for short periods, dedicating just 30 mins, 3 times a week?

If so, high intensity interval training (HIIT) could be for you, and this is why it works:

If you run on a treadmill or work out on a cross trainer at moderate intensity for 30 mins or longer, the machine stats will tell you that you’re in the ‘fat burning’ zone.

That sounds good, right?

And it’s true that you WILL be burning fat and you’ll also improve your fitness and endurance levels, which is great.

However, you’d need to be working out for a considerable amount of time to burn a body-shape changing amount of fat, and that could get boring if you don’t enjoy it. Also, when you stop, your metabolic rate soon drops back to its pre-workout level as your body has coped with the additional demands of moderate intensity exercise without having to dip too much into its energy reserves.

With HIIT, you are working at a much higher intensity so your body must use its reserves of energy to cope with the demand. True, you may not burn as many calories as a VERY long run during your HIIT session, but here’s the good news: for HOURS after your workout, your body continues to work hard to replace the energy reserves it used. This means that your metabolic rate continues to be elevated, metabolising more body fat, even though you stopped working out hours earlier.

Short bursts of high intensity exercise require a huge amount of oxygen, particularly if you’re working big muscle groups. This increases the number of calories you are burning compared to moderate intensity exercise, which means less time at the gym.

It can be difficult to decrease body fat without also losing muscle. While studies show that moderate intensity exercises like jogging seem to encourage muscle loss, HIIT workouts using bodyweight exercises (rather than purely cardio HIIT exercises) allow you to build lean muscle mass whilst still burning fat. The more lean muscle mass you have, the higher your metabolic rate will be and the more calories you’ll burn, even at rest, as muscles require a lot more energy than fat just by existing. Result!

During high intensity exercise your body produces more of the Human Grown Hormone (HGH). And not just a small increase either. In fact, a study found that a 30 second sprint on a stationary bike resulted in an increase in HGH production of nearly 450%! This is a significant advantage of HIIT as HGH plays a key role in metabolism and has fat-burning capabilities, so having optimal levels is especially important for weight loss.

There’s a reason why long-distance runners include sprint work in their training. Working at a high level of intensity, your body quickly produces lactic acid and other waste products. HIIT workouts use the recovery periods to give your body a chance to get rid of these waste products to enable the muscles to perform the next round. The more your body gets used to training at this level, the better it can to tolerate it and the quicker you recover. Therefore, the fitter you become. After just a few HIIT sessions, you’ll notice you can walk more quickly up hills or stairs without getting out of breath and if you’re a runner, your average speed will improve without you having to try harder.

So, you’re converted? Here are some things to remember:

For HIIT to be effective, you need to get that heart rate up. On a scale of 1-10 (1 being sitting doing nothing and 10 being 100% effort), you should aim for 8 or 9: 80% + intensity. It will feel uncomfortable, you’ll break into a sweat and you should only be able to speak a few words between breaths. If you can hold a conversation, you’re not working hard enough. But don’t forget, you’re only working this hard for 30 seconds at a time, so it’s not all bad!

For maximum fat burning, choose exercises that work big muscles and multiple muscle groups. For example, high knees on the spot, air boxing, squats, lunges and press ups rather than bicep curls or tricep dips.

To ensure you continue to build rather than lose lean muscle mass, include bodyweight exercises as well as purely cardio exercises so your workout has a mix of the above examples.

Don’t be tempted to go for a HIIT session every day. 3 times a week is plenty, giving enough time for muscle recovery in-between. On the non-HIIT days, fit in as much brisk walking as you can, or go for a light to moderate intensity run, if you enjoy running.
Ensure you warm up properly for 5 mins before your HIIT session. Jog on the spot for a couple of minutes, then add some high knees and some heel flicks (hands on bum and heels coming up and hitting hands) then back to regular jogging on the spot, pumping the arms. Move on to some squats, not going very deep, then some shoulder rolls and arm circles, both ways, while marching on the spot.
Include a 5 min cool down once you’ve finished your HIIT programme. You can do this by stretching all the muscles you’ve worked. Hold each stretch for 10-15 seconds. This will stop your muscles from aching too much so you’ll still be able to get out of bed the next morning!

HIIT isn’t for everyone. If it’s a long time since you did any physical activity, it’s best to start with some walking and gentle jogging, working up to moderate intensity exercise in the first instance. If you’re not sure if a high intensity workout is appropriate for you, always best to consult your doctor first.

Fancy a go?

Here’s a beginner HIIT workout to tempt you to get started. You may get hot and sweaty, but I guarantee you definitely won’t get bored, and you’ll feel AMAZING afterwards!

Beginner HIIT workout: 5 mins warm up + 18 mins HIIT + 5 mins stretching = 28 mins

1. Air boxing and jumping jack combo:

Hold fists (thumbs outside fingers) up in front of your face. From this position, punch out in front of the body and return quickly to starting position, alternating right then left 4 times then 4 jumping jacks with no pausing in between. Punch as hard as you can. Keep the knees soft and pull in your abdominal muscles so you are braced and strong and it would be difficult to push you over.

2. Squats:

Keep your chest up, push your bum back, weight through the heels and knees in line with but further back than the toes. You should always be able to see your toes as you squat. Don’t let the knees come forward or bend in towards each other.

3. Press ups:

Start with the modified position, knees on the floor. Ensure your hips are forward, in front of the knees and your head is in front of your hands. Hands should be shoulder-width apart.

Work hard at each exercise for 30 seconds then rest for 30 seconds before going on to the next one. Repeat the whole programme 6 times in total.

TOP TIPS:

You can find a free app on your phone which beeps/vibrates every 30 seconds
You can do your HIIT session anywhere, but it helps if you can add some energetic music!
You don’t need any equipment, but if you fancy adding something new, invest in a skipping rope and add 30 seconds of skipping to your programme
Take a look at my stretch sheet to help with your post-HIIT stretching