Burn Fat with Interval Training

As a personal trainer, I have the opportunity to visit and work in many of the gyms in my area. I am always amazed at the amount of members who spend day after day on the treadmill walking or running at the same pace, for the same distance and same amount time (usually 1 hour). They have no clue that doing the same thing every day is only wasting their time.

Don’t get me wrong. If you are starting out from nothing, by all means start slow and do what you can to motivate yourself to get to the gym as much as possible. But following this type of training on a consistent basis will only lead to burn out and disappointment.

What if I said that you could lose more weight in less time, break a plateau, and never get bored of doing a workout, again? Are you interested? It really is this simple.

Interval training is the answer. Interval training mixes high intensity ‘bursts’ with low intensity periods of recovery. It overloads both the anaerobic and aerobic systems at the same time, to provide the benefits of both aspects of training simultaneously. With this type of training you can burn more fat in less time, and get a complete workout in 20-30 minutes.

Benefits

• Saves time- there is no need to walk for an hour on the treadmill anymore, this model allows 20-30 minutes of effective energy use.
• Break the plateau- many of us hit a wall and at times find it hard to pass a certain level, interval training mixes things up and allows for a fitness breakthrough
• Breaks workout boredom- who enjoys doing the same thing day in and day out? By mixing it up the workouts stay fresh and challenging.
• Its easy- you can be in complete control, which allows the time to go by much more quickly
• Body becomes more efficient fat burning machine

As with any new fitness program, there are a few safety tips to follow when starting your Interval Training

Interval Training Safety Tips:

• Begin with a 5 minute warm up
• Start slowly, based on your fitness level
• Keep a steady, but challenging pace
• Make changes slowly and over a period of time
• Bring heart rate down to 100-110 bpm during the rest interval
• For improvement, manipulate one of the 4 variables below, but not all at the same time
• Finish your training with a 5 minute cool down and stretching

Interval training allows for increased fitness levels by manipulating four variables. As stated in the safety tips, structure your workout to allow for one improvement at a time.

• 1. Intensity (speed) of work interval
  2. Duration (distance or time) of work interval
  3. Duration of rest or recovery interval
  4. Number of sets per workout

If you are a beginner to working out, begin with one Interval Training session per week.  For more advanced fitness levels, 2-3 times a week is recommended.