From everything I've read and researched about High Intensity Interval Training, it is based on a "work smarter, not harder" mentality. The body doesn't need to work out for hours on end. You don't need to work every muscle, every day. In fact, it's recommended to alternate cardio & weight-training every other day so your body has time to heal itself between workouts. Make sure to stretch, warm-up and cool-down before and after every workout, regardless of what you're doing. This can prevent injury, increase blood-flow and help flush toxins from your body that can harbor sickness and disease.
Weight training will help you build muscle. The stronger the muscles, the more quickly and easily you will burn excess fat. Cardio training will help strengthen your heart & lungs and increase blood flow throughout your body. (The links will show you the numerous benefits of each type of training and their effects on your body & overall health. You can Google them both for more links to various articles online.)
All gyms should offer you a session where a trainer will show you how to work the machines. Many gyms will also offer a personalized training session where you learn how to monitor your resting heart rate and figure out what machines are best for you based on your fitness goals. They can also help you determine what your maximum heart rate should be so you don't overdo it. Some gyms charge for this consultation. Others don't. The YMCA is where I learned what works best for my body and the service was included in my membership. If you don't know for sure what your gym offers, ASK! And even if it is a small fee to have a trainer help you get started, it's well worth the money spent. You can avoid injury and wasted time & money by knowing what you should be doing to meet your goals.
While the links are posted to the left, I thought I'd break down my workout for you. This is NOT meant to set any example of what you should do. That should be determined by you and your trainer. This is simply an explanation of what my trainer and I figured out for me.
Sun/Tue/Thurs
- Stretch - 10 minutes - warm up the muscles.
- HIIT on the treadmill (including warm-up & cool-down) - described below
- Stretch - 10 minutes - cool down the muscles
Mon/Wed
- Stretch - 10 minutes - warm up the muscles
- Circuit Weight Training - Upper & lower body muscle groups: This includes several machines that work upper back, shoulder, chest, arms, abs, thigh, calf, butt and lower back muscles.
- Stretch - 10 minutes - cool down the muscles
I do crunches/sit-ups every day, whether I'm at the gym or not, seven days a week. At home, I tuck my feet under the edge of the couch and do between 40 and 50 full sit-ups, taking a minute or so between reps of 10. At the gym, I use a bench with a 30-45° incline and I do crunches. Because of the incline, I do fewer of them for now - usually cranking out about 20-30 - again, doing reps and taking breaks. I do ab-work daily because the majority of my excess weight is in my belly and the leaner the muscles in those areas, the more quickly and easily I will burn fat in that area.
As far as my HIIT goes (an example of the first week doing this training):
0:00-5:00 3.0 mph - a slow, but steady walking pace
5:00-5:30 5.0 mph - a slow, but steady jogging pace
5:30-6:00 3.0 mph
6:00-6:30 5.2 mph
6:30-7:00 3.0 mph
7:00-7:30 5.4 mph
7:30-8:00 3.0 mph
8:00-8:30 5.4 mph
8:30-9:00 3.0 mph
9:00-9:30 5.2 mph
9:30-10:00 3.0 mph
10:00-10:30 5.0 mph
10:30-15:30 2.4 mph
The highlighted time frames are my "sprints." (Granted, this isn't a sprint for most people, but when you're carrying around 80 extra pounds on legs with a 26" inseam, it sure as hell feels like one. With time, that pace will increase.) When I first started this workout, I had 30 second sprints with a minute and a half in between to ease off and catch my breath. Then, as time went on, I decreased the time to a minute between them, now, thirty seconds between them. Starting tomorrow, I will increase the number of sprints I do from the 6 I do now up to 8 sprints, then 10 the following week or two, then 12 after that. Once I'm consistently doing twelve 30-second sprints without as much difficulty, I'll increase my pace and spread out my stride so my legs are opening more and I'm covering more distance (which will make my pace not seem as difficult. It will work those legs muscles, however and increase the cardio workout I'm getting).
Over time, this workout (like all workouts) will put you at a plateau. For those unfamiliar with that, it's where what you're doing just doesn't seem to be working much anymore. You can do several things to change that:
- Increase your pace
- Increase your incline
- Spread your stride farther so your legs are opening more
- Wear ankle or wrist weights
- Change machines (you can do HIIT on a stationary bike and an elliptical, too)
Hope this blog helps explain a little better what I do when I'm in the gym and how you can maximize your workout. :)
**DISCLAIMERS**
If at ANY point in your workout, you feel pain, STOP immediately. Don't push yourself thinking it's just a spasm or a pulled muscle. You could severely injure yourself. For instance, this week, instead of taking today off, I took Wednesday off. My knee was out of joint and I was in some pain. The day off helped my body heal itself. The only reason I didn't go to my doctor to have him take a look at it is because I know my body and I knew what I'd done to get myself in that situation. I don't recommend this for you. If you hurt, it's for a reason and you need to find out what that reason is. It's always a good idea to have your doctor check things out for you before you start working out for the first time or before you continue your workout after an injury.
As always, I am not a health or fitness professional. If your trainer is telling you something different from what you read here, follow their instructions. They know you personally. I don't. I'm simply relaying what works best for my body.
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