Interval Training is simply one of the most efficient forms of cardio you can perform, if not the most efficient. You can get pretty much ALL the benefits of longer-duration cardio but without the long duration. Moreover, you don’t get bored, you don’t spend all your time doing it, and you don’t have nearly the risk of overuse injuries.
Let’s take a look at how we can choose from the most efficient forms of cardio to elevate conditioning while working towards strength goals.
Athletes have become bigger and stronger and are in better shape nowadays, and the trend to build endurance through specific training has only accelerated this phenomenon. Athletes are getting leaner and more ‘ripped’ than ever, in nearly every sport.
It used to be that a baseball player, for example, would focus on exercises specifically designed to improve the specific skill set that they needed to succeed on the baseball field. The same sport-specific training was true for every sport. But as people began to see the broad-spectrum benefits that came with endurance training for events like the triathlon, it became evident that an individual with greater strength and endurance in any sport could benefit from a more well-rounded circuit of exercises.
It didn’t take long before regular people started to realize that they could benefit from endurance training, too, and it quickly became more and more popular. Today, its appeal is at an all-time high. Even weekend athletes, as a result of endurance training, are becoming almost indefatigable.
Exercise is a great way to improve your health and overall fitness. There are a wide variety of workouts to choose from and these will vary depending on your age, health status, and fitness levels. Not only is there an overwhelming choice of equipment, there is the question of which are the best exercises at the gym, and which exercise modalities will properly help you reach your goals.
Check out these different workout strategies to help you choose the best exercises at the gym.
High-Intensity Interval Training, often represented by the acronym HIIT, is really a big deal. HIIT training is the ideal and most effective replacement for underachieving endurance cardio. High-intensity interval training has been regarded for years now as one of the best ways to burn calories and maintain muscle mass while encouraging a long-lasting metabolic effect post-workout.
As a matter of fact, in studies, HIIT is 9x more effective at burning fat than endurance cardio.
More often than not, I have talked about HIIT workouts made up only of interval sprints. Today I would like to discuss HIIT training with resistance machines, but not to be confused with High-Intensity Resistance Training, or HIRT, which I will write about shortly.
HIIT Provides the Following Benefits
Burn more calories than endurance cardio
Burn more fat than endurance cardio
Increase power
Increase speed
Increase muscle density
Improve anaerobic endurance
Improve aerobic endurance
Speed up metabolism for more than a day and a half
High-intensity interval training (HIIT) is a form of exercise that has become very popular in recent years. It involves short, intense workouts with long recovery periods. This enables you to increase your workout intensity while decreasing the amount of time it takes to get results. During a HIIT workout, you push yourself hard for a short period of time, and then rest while recovering. This is typically a 1:1 or a 2:1 work-to-rest ratio.
Let’s learn a bit more about what HIIT is and how to integrate it into your training.
You just signed up for your first fitness boot camp. Congrats! You’re on your way to a better, stronger, and healthier you. You’re new to HIIT training and group fitness. You want to slay your workouts, but you’re nervous, and you’re not sure you can keep up with the rest of the class. Did you know that your pre-exercise routine is just as important as your workouts? Here are some boot camp tips for getting your body ready to work hard and accomplish those big fitness goals.
Every athlete has to be well conditioned to perform well. I don’t care what sport it is or how often you play, but you need to be well-conditioned and in shape either way. In this article, I’m going to go over why you need to condition and how to condition.
Sprinting is the foundation of High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT), and will make your legs big, strong, fast, and powerful. Sprints are great for developing endurance, but also for developing lean muscle mass and speed strength. If you want to develop your writing skills you can visit services like thesishelpers.com, but for sprinting these tips will teach you how to sprint faster.
Ever seen a skinny sprinter? I didn’t think so.
Sure, squats are the almighty kings of the Gym Exercise Kingdom; but sprints are like the kings of the Functional Exercise Kingdom whose jacked-up, super-lean army of massive wheels is constantly trying to overthrow the squat as the #1 top leg exercise.
You think you know how to sprint right, but do you?
High-intensity interval training, also called HIIT is a method of working out that focuses on shorter intervals but exercises that are more intense. It is the perfect exercise strategy for women that are looking to focus on things like cardio, core strength, and weight loss as it helps maintain muscle while prioritizing a pace that will get your heart rate up. Here are a few tips to keep in mind before getting into the gym.
Today I would like to examine the physiological benefits of circuit training. There are many forms of circuit training, from machine-based static circuits, to boot camp style workouts and even kickboxing workouts. But what is circuit training and how can we put it to the best possible use?
Many gyms offer standard cookie-cutter circuit training programs, which are sometimes prescribed by the in-house personal trainer and recommended by other lazy staff members. The circuit is set up in some back room with a timer alarm to tell you when to move to the next station. Should you use this system or put together your own free weight circuit or join a boot camp?
What does circuit training actually offer you?
What are the physiological benefits and who is best suited to participate in circuit training?
There are several theoretical benefits of circuit training that are disseminated online.
Metabolism is a word that describes any and all chemical reactions that occur within the body. The rate at which metabolism occurs in your body may vary depending on a lot of things. The rate at which our body metabolizes is also shown in how many calories we burn and how much energy we have. A higher metabolic rate means we burn calories much easier and it is easier to both lose weight and then keep it off. Here are seven easy ways to boost your metabolism for weight loss.
You have to remember that you can start to really change your life when you are working out and trying to build muscle as fast as possible. Someone who is trying to build muscle needs to have a plan, and it is much easier for you to start following a plan. This plan helps you get the best chance to have the muscles you have always wanted, and you can do this if you are young or old. You look your best, and it all happens in about 90 days.
Follow these steps, make a plan, stick to it, and live healthy for 90 days. When you see what you accomplish and how you feel, you might never stop.(more…)
I get plenty of questions in various comments throughout the website, but I also get comments and questions via the Project Swole Contact Form.
Generally I address those questions through e-mail, but often I do not have the time to reply to each and every question personally.
The category Your Health Questions attempts to take a more proactive approach to answering your questions so that everyone can benefit from the Q & A.
Scott wrote:
“First off very good site, very informative.
I am 33 5-11 170lbs. I just went from a split where I was doing 30 min low intensity cardio after the work out. I have been enjoying the full body workouts; I feel I get more out of it.
I am trying to maintain the muscle I have and get more ripped toned. Should I keep doing a low intensity cardio session after my work out or should I move to HIIT or some sort of other interval training on the off days?
I always read cardio after lifting or in the am is the best. So will I still burn fat doing cardio on the off days? Help!!”
Response:
First off, thank you for the kind words. I’m glad I can help someone with my babbling.
Second, I agree with you about full body workout routines. I find full body training to be far more effective at stimulating all kinds of gains than a traditional split routine.
Now, regarding your cardio questions, I have a couple responses and then I will discuss my reasoning:
My opinion is that you should focus more on high intensity interval training (HIIT) than on aerobic cardio.
If you insist on doing aerobic cardio at the same time as weight training, then it should be performed after weight training, but then you have to accept the drawbacks of doing cardio after weight training.
If you insist on doing aerobic cardio, not at the same time as weight training, but on the same day as weight training, it should be performed in the morning, on an empty stomach.
If you insist on doing aerobic cardio on a non-weight training day, then you have 2 choices:
in the morning on an empty stomach – to maximize fat loss
any other time of the day – used as active recovery
If you plan doing HIIT, it should not be performed before a workout.
Cardio in general works best when performed 8-10 hours before or after weight training, or on a separate day.
If you’re looking to keep your cardio fitness levels running high throughout the year regardless of weather conditions or other hindrances, then the incline treadmill workout is the best training option.
Incline workouts offer many benefits.
For starters, it’ll help you simulate hill running, thus burn off colossal amounts of calories without having to go outside and stomach the bad weather. In addition, incline workouts are great boredom busters, hence if you dread indoor cardio training, use the incline to your advantage and make your workout more challenging and fun.
As a result, if you’re not doing an incline workout—at least once per week—then you’re doing yourself a big disservice.
I don’t HATE endurance cardio. I’m trying to give it a chance, albeit a slim chance.
It has its purpose in workout routines, especially for those who are untrained, obese, or have health complications that make high intensity training dangerous. But I can’t just blow off the continually mounting evidence (for the past 15 years) that high intensity interval training is optimal for fat loss and for developing speed, power, muscle, and even endurance!
For many years now, hardcore trainers have been touting the superior effectiveness of high intensity intervals for fat loss. But still, trainers, athletes, housewives, couch potatoes, televangelists, martial arts instructors, teachers, doctors, and pretty much anyone outside of the ‘hardcore trainer’ group suggests that if you want to lose weight you have to either walk everyday or jog for at least an hour a day 4-5 times a week. Wake up people!
How to ramp up the speed for better fat loss and fitness gains
If you want to run faster, then you need to start running faster. This may sound as a cliché but because it’s true.
Speedwork—in all its forms—is key for unlocking your full potential as a runner. Not only that, speedwork will make you fitter, enhance the range of movement in your joints, boost power and drive in your lower body, and it will eventually help you to run harder for longer.
Furthermore, Speedwork is key for weight loss. According to many studies, interval running—a form of speed work— burns up to three times more calories than sticking to a steady and easy pace. Of course, long runs at a low intensity have their benefits, but when it comes to burning the flab, speedwork wins the race.
For many of us the hardest part about working out is motivation. This could be due to the fact that you haven’t made fitness a priority; when you’ve always got something more important on your plate it’s all too easy to put your health on the back burner.
Or maybe you’ve been exercising diligently and you’re simply not seeing the results you want, a situation that can be frustrating and discouraging.
It could even be that you simply don’t find your exercise routine particularly challenging or fun.
Whatever your reasons for skipping the workout day after day, the truth is that you need to find ways to get motivated, and interval training can provide you with several benefits that might just move you to get your butt off the couch and into gear.
Here are a few benefits of interval training to consider: (more…)
How to Effectively Combine HIIT Sessions with Endurance Cardio
Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention please: walking or jogging for hours on the treadmill, peddling for hours on the stationary bike, climbing a mountain on the StairMaster, and plodding away on the elliptical trainer is NOT the best way to burn calories!
We’ve seen a hundred studies telling us that high intensity interval training (HIIT) burns more calories and fat, speeds up your metabolism, and is less catabolic than hours of endurance cardio. HIIT can also be far less boring, will actually help you build more muscle tissue, and increases your resting metabolic rate.
HIIT: Twenty minutes of HIIT cardio improves your VO2 max, burns a ton of calories, increases your metabolism, and maintains or builds muscle tissue all at once.
vs.
Endurance Cardio: Sixty minutes of endurance cardio is not only boring as hell, it also increases cortisol, burns muscle tissue (protein) for energy, and halts protein synthesis. (more…)
Should Bodybuilders Do Cardio After Weight Training?
Spend some time in a corporate gym and you will see hundreds of bodybuilders lifting moderately heavy weight for sets of 10-15 reps, then you’ll see them hop on a StairMaster or elliptical machine for about 20-30 minutes of moderate intensity endurance cardio. There are many reasons for this behavior, the most common being that weight training is just a hell of a lot more fun than cardio.
Apparently the weights-first-cardio-second protocol is considered the most effective way for bodybuilders to build muscle and lose fat at the same time. But is it? (more…)
Wall Balls is a silly name for an exercise, I know, but that’s what you get when you borrow exercises from Crossfit. In fact, Wall Balls are a great conditioning exercise that builds full body stamina and endurance. It will also make you sweat.
This is an exercise that integrates perfectly into a high intensity interval training (HIRT) circuit, and can also be used to build high intensity interval training (HIIT) sessions, but do not translate that well into Tabata training.
Wall Balls also can be used separately as a full body conditioning exercise by attempting to complete X reps as fast as possible, or by attempting to complete as many reps as possible in a set time limit. Either way, it burns!
Medicine Ball Training
Medicine ball training has been around for a long time, and in fact they were used frequently at gyms back in the 18th and 19th centuries. Ancient (3000+ years ago) wrestlers and other athletes used to train with various sand-filled implements, which evolved over time into the medicine ball.
The standard medicine ball is a weighted rubber ball measuring roughly 14 inches in diameter, although sizes vary greatly nowadays as you can get a medicine ball from the size of your fist to the size of your body.
Used in a wide variety of fitness programs, medicine balls can be benched, rowed, curled, pressed, squatted, tossed, caught, bounced, squished, and generally manhandled all for the sake of fitness.
I get plenty of questions in various comments throughout the website, but I also get comments and questions via the 
