No matter how overweight you may be, an HIIT training routine will help burn off that belly fat fast. I feel that it is the best cardio for weight loss. Yes, weight loss can be done by combining diet, steady state cardio and strength training, but HIIT will up your fat burning ability to the next level.
What is HIIT?
HIIT stands for High Intensity Interval Training. The basic principle of HIIT is working your body hard and fast for a short burst, then giving it a bit of a rest with an active recovery period. For instance, sprinting for 30 seconds then jogging or walking for 1 minute would be a standard rep set. You would repeat this process a number of times to get the best workout.
Benefits of HIIT
HIIT training offers many important benefits. Your legs will be worked hard with a HIIT workout. Unless you want bulging leg muscles, you shouldn't need to do strength training for your legs if you perform HIIT training a few times a week. And HIIT increases your body's fat burning potential. Doing the intense intervals causes fatty acids to be released into the bloodstream. HIIT training also increases the level of HGH in your system. HGH is a hormone that promotes fat burning yet preserves muscle. To top it off, HIIT training creates an after-burn effect (EPOC) which lets your body burn more calories for hours after you have finished exercising.
Weaknesses of HIIT
HIIT is not a perfect system. A big disadvantage is that this cannot be done every day. It is easy to over train your body if you're doing strength training for your leg muscles in addition to HIIT. If you have worn your muscles out the day before, you should engage in a slower, steady state cardio workout instead.
Sprint Interval Length
You can vary some of the stages of your HIIT training routine for a more effective workout. First - change the length of your sprint intervals. Doing shorter intervals of between 15 and 30 seconds gives you more of a chance to exert yourself while sprinting. This increased exertion will help release more HGH into your system. And a shorter sprint interval releases more fatty acids into your bloodstream as well.
Working harder for longer than 30 seconds requires more effort. The longer intervals will burn more calories. And exerting yourself for a longer period depletes the level of glycogen (carbohydrates) in your system, encouraging your body to burn more fat after you have finished your workout.
Recovery Length
The length of your recovery period is also important in HIIT training. This is the lower exertion part, walking or jogging, of your workout that gives your muscles a moment to recoup. You spend a certain amount of recovery time relative to the amount of sprint time. If your sprint interval is 30 seconds and your recovery interval is also 30 seconds, you have a 1:1 ratio. If instead, your sprint interval is 15 seconds and your recovery interval is 45 seconds you have a 3:1 ratio.
The more time you give your body to recover compared to your sprint intervals (a ratio of 2 or 3:1) the more effort you will be able to give in the next sprint. The more exertion, the more HGH your body can release. And giving yourself a longer recovery interval will reduce the risk of over-training your muscles.
Using a shorter ratio of sprint to recovery results in glycogen depletion, lactic acid buildup and a more efficient after-burn effect. The risk of over-training is increased though.
Best Cardio For Weight Loss
I think that the best cardio for weight loss combines various HIIT training routines to give you all of the benefits, a strong HGH release, fatty acid release, calorie burning and glycogen depletion. Your workout should start with the short sprint and long recovery ratio part of the HIIT routine. A sprint of 15 seconds and then recovery period (walking or jogging) of 45 seconds is appropriate. This is the method that will release fatty acids and increase the level of HGH into your system. I do a 2 minute warm up, then perform this HIIT routine 8 times, for a total of 10 minutes.
The second part of my workout is 25 minutes of steady state cardio (an exercise bike or light paced jogging). This allows your muscles to remain active, and still have a recovery period. Steady state cardio burns off the fatty acids that you have released into your bloodstream with the first HIIT portion of your workout.
The final portion of your workout is doing long interval HIIT with short recovery intervals. This depletes the glycogen in your body, which then means you will burn more fat once you have finished your exercise. I combine 1 minute of sprinting intervals with one minute of jogging or walking. You won't want to exert yourself so much for the sprint intervals here as your muscles will already be tired. This final portion should be about 10 minutes as well.
This gives you a complete 45 minute HIIT training routine that I think is the best cardio for weight loss. Following this routine a few times a week will burn off belly fat quickly, no matter what your weight loss goal may be.
Dave provides no-nonsense "best of the best" diet and exercise tips to lose fat and build lean, defined muscle without spending hours in the gym. There's no point in using a bodybuilder routine to get a fitness model physique. These are Not Your Average Fitness Tips.
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