HIIT: the intensive workout for fast weight loss and firming
HIIT is an acronym that means High Intensity Interval Training, an intensive workout with interval moments. It is made up of different protocols and types of warm-up and training, and is a very effective exercise program for losing weight by burning fat, increasing metabolism and thus improving digestion and cell regeneration, and firming and toning the whole body, from the belly to the oblique abdominals, up to the thighs. The examples of exercises, to do at home or in the gym, are many, and you just have to choose the ones you prefer to perform, including running, even on a treadmill, exercise bike or step on the elliptical. Always start with a little stretching. :
As we said, it's a type of workout you can do at home too, and cardio tools aren't always necessary. The workout is divided into 4 different moments: the warm-up, the actual workout, the cool-down and the final stretching. The warm-up must last at least 4 minutes, alternating 4 different exercises of one minute each, and it contributes above all to fat burning. The central phase of the training is very intense, it makes the body work with an anaerobic phase that lasts from 1 to 2 minutes maximum, and above all helps to burn carbohydrates. Then follows the cool-down phase, which always lasts 1 or 2 minutes. The final stretch is for relaxing the muscles that have worked hard. You can follow the HIIT program in the gym, as if it were a more intense cardio fitness program, or you can try to do these exercises at home, following our tips and our tutorial on exercises. The program includes 30-minute sessions every 2 days. With this program you will get a flat stomach thanks above all to the intense muscle training and the acceleration of the metabolism, the basic principle that helps digest and lose weight effectively and quickly.
See also
Training with HIIT: the video of the first warm-up
In these videos, you can discover two modes of aerobic warm-up and one that really explains what HIIT is. As personal trainer Marta Fovana tells us in these videos, each HIIT workout involves a 4-minute warm-up, with a different exercise for each minute of warm-up. Discover the first and second warm-up, which you can do at your choice or alternately over the weeks.
How to do the second warm-up
HIIT: the workout. The examples of our personal trainer
Our personal trainer explains all the stages of HIIT workouts, with examples of how to do the exercises. An excellent premise before discovering the actual workouts.
Examples of intense phase exercises: running, treadmill, stationary bike
The intense training phase is very short, but requires maximum use of effort possible (with high peaks of maximum heart rate). To perform an exercise in this phase, you can take advantage of the stationary bike, the treadmill run, or the elliptical, the machine for the step that involves the combined use of arms and legs. If you perform HIIT in the gym, you can use the same tools for both the aerobic warm-up phase and the anaerobic effort phase, you just need to increase the intensity of the parameters of the equipment you are using. The changes in intensity must be rapid, and must be repeated between the necessary intervals, where you do not have to stop doing the exercise, but continue with a lower intensity. Adjusting the intensities at home can be useful if you use the exercise bike, easier to have of a treadmill or elliptical.
The benefits of HIIT exercises
As we said, "intensive interval training is a kind of enhanced cardio fitness. The aerobic phase of the warm-up exercises helps burn fat, the intensive anaerobic phase helps burn carbohydrates. The alternation of intense phases and cool-down phases" it then helps to awaken and accelerate the metabolism. Final results? An effective, effective and fast weight loss and a firming of the whole body. You will have a flat and toned stomach, greater well-being. Then, the benefits of HIIT training are also in favor of the cardiovascular system, like all cardio fitness. Just remember to avoid excessive intensity levels if you suffer from cardiovascular disorders.
Speed up your metabolism even with food!
To lend a hand to these examples of HIIT exercises, and speed up your metabolism even with nutrition, choose the foods you see in this gallery. They are the perfect foods to stimulate the metabolism and lose weight with greater effectiveness and speed.
