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High Intensity Interval Training on a Treadmill

High Intensity Interval Training is a relatively new phenomenon in the fitness world. Many people who are not seeing results with their usual routine find the need to adapt and try new things. High intensity interval training can help you speed up your progress immensely due to the muscle confusion and extra demand it puts on your body.

Most treadmill users will warm up for several minutes then set the treadmill at a pace they can maintain for 20 or 30 minutes. Although this routine will burn calories- you are not maximizing your calorie burning potential. High Intensity Interval Training gives you the ability to blast fat away from your body and reach new levels of fitness.

The problem with many people’s treadmill routines is that it gets boring and they reach a plateau. High Intensity Interval Training gives your body new challenges and forces it to adapt to a rigorous routine. Your body will require more energy to deal with this added intensity. What will your body use as energy? It will go into your fat storage and start burning it away! This is why HIIT is so powerful the many people are seeing dramatic fat loss results.

HIIT requires the use of fast twitch muscle fibers- which are designed for short and powerful bursts of energy and puts increased demand on your body. When you work your fast twitch muscles fibers and break them down- your body needs to burn excess calories to help them recover and repair.

Fast twitch muscle fibers take more energy to repair and rebuild than slow twitch muscles fibers. Slow twitch muscle fibers are the fibers that you break down when you are doing an endurance activity such as running on a treadmill at the same speed for a long period of time. When you perform a HIIT workout- such as sprinting for 30 seconds then walking for 90 seconds- your body is breaking down the fast twitch muscle fibers and when you are in recovery mode your body will continue to burn calories. This is why HIIT is such an incredible training tool for anyone looking to lose weight and get past their current plateau. When your body is recovering from a HIIT workout and fast twitch muscle fibers are damaged- it will take your body many more calories and energy to recover. This Is why your weight loss results are dramatically sped up.

You should aim for anywhere from 7 to 10 intervals if you are in good shape and an elite athlete. For the average person starting out with HIIT, you may only be able to do 5. A good rule of thumb is to sprint for 30-60 seconds at a time and then walk for double the time you just sprinted. If you are in especially good shape you can try your sprints at a slight incline. Remember to do your best not to grab the handle bars on the treadmill. If you are cheating the workout you are only cheating yourself!

A full interval consists of the 30-60 second sprint and the 60-120 second walking period. I like to try and keep a slight incline when I am doing HIIT. The treadmill makes HIIT training especially easy because you are able to constantly switch the speed and incline. In my opinion the treadmill is best utilized for HIIT because of this reason. The ability to effortlessly switch from incline, speed, and pace makes it very easy to perform amazing HIIT workouts.

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