High Intensity Interval Training or HIIT,  is the most effective way to burn fat!

You don’t have to spend hours and hours at the gym to get fitter, stronger and leaner.  You can get a great workout in 20-30mins. Or even LESS!

If the ‘I haven’t got time to exercise’ excuse pops up in your head – get rid of it and take control! If  you have even less time than that, you will just have to work harder in the time that you have – just giving it 100% and pushing yourself as hard as you can during the workout is key!

Think about quality over quantity – It is better to do shorter, more intense workout than a longer ineffective one. I do have a little giggle when I drive or walk past a gym and people are on the treadmill or bike while reading a book! Seriously! Why bother! Or someone tells me they spend 2 hours at the gym 5 days a week, but not getting results!!

Both longer and shorter workouts will burn calories, anything that gets your heart rate up will get you well on the way to losing weight (together with the right foods, but that is a whole other topic!).

But the shorter, sharper,  more intense the workout, the more it will boost your metabolism, which will help you burn fat!

So the more effort you put into your workout, the better your results will be.  So what do I suggest?

If you are short on time, interval training (HIIT) is the way to go! Perfect for busy people!  If you have the time and you enjoy going for an hours run or powerwalk, that is fine too – just try and mix up your workouts for maximum benefits!

Now  shorter workouts can also be great for getting you out of a fitness rut, or if you have hit a plateau, get more of these types of workouts in your week to get the motivation back.  But don’t forget, as you get fitter, stronger, more toned and you are losing weight, you need to continue to push yourself, otherwise  you won’t continue to see the results you are after.

So what is interval training?

Interval training can be done with lots of different exercises – running, swimming, riding – its all about getting that heart rate pumping, letting it drop, up, down etc. It can also go hand in hand with strength & conditioning exercises!

The key to interval training is to recover on the down part and going for it 100% for the sprint part. Here is an example:

• Easy jog for 60 secs, sprint for 30 secs, repeat 5 mins
• Easy jog for 45 secs, sprint for 45 secs, repeat for 5mins
• Easy jog for 30 secs, sprint for 60 secs, repeat for 5 mins

If you don’t want to look at your watch that much, use markers – Lamp posts, traffic lights, streets, trees – jog to one, sprint 2, jog 1, sprint 3.

If you don’t have access to any of those and you would prefer to do a workout at home, you could do a workout similar to this, which is also a great form of HIIT – combining strength training and interval training in 1!

• 1 min squats
• 1 min squat jumps
• 1 min push ups
• 1 min Mountain Climbers
• 1 min power lunges – alternate legs
• 1 min Burpees
• 30 sec rest
• Repeat

Do as many rounds as you can in the time that you have!

REMEMBER – It’s all about the INTENSITY! Push yourself so you can’t possibly do any more!