Why you need HIIT in your gym routine immediately

When it comes to your job, your objective is to work smarter—not harder. Instead of manually adding calculations, you use an Excel spreadsheet formula. You schedule an hour-long conference with the entire team in place of several individual meetings. To achieve your goals, you need to maximize productivity in the shortest amount of time possible. HIIT, or high intensity interval training, helps you take the same approach to your fitness routine.

Burning fat requires the perfect storm of resistance training, a balanced diet and cardio. For the latter, most guys invest a lot of time but don’t see the results. They spend an hour on the treadmill each session, pounding out miles and soaking through their workout clothes. If you’re consistent in the other areas, this might pay off. But HIIT offers a quicker alternative that burns more fat and requires fewer sessions.

A HIIT workout is simple. It involves alternating between short bursts of all-out effort and rest periods. Let’s say you’re in love with the treadmill and don’t want to give it up. You can stick to running, but you need to adjust your workout. Start out jogging at a light speed for 1 minute.

The next minute, break into a full sprint. Then, jog for another minute, sprint the next minute, and so on and so forth. You’ll continue this pattern for at least 20 minutes. It might seem relatively simple, but it’ll kick your butt and blast your fat in a third of the time.

In addition to reducing your cardio frequency and burning more fat, HIIT offers a host of other benefits.

HIIT boosts your metabolism for almost three hours after your session ends. Consequently, you continue burning calories and fat for the next 24 hours. Interval training has also been proven to improve your endurance. So, on those days when you just can’t resist a distance run or bike ride, you’ll be able to stick with it even longer.

Interval training promotes strong heart health by safely raising your heart rate and effectively pushing blood through your entire body. Plus, it’s the perfect way to burn fat without losing muscle mass. The problem with those long treadmill sessions (also known as Low Intensity Steady State-LISS- cardio) is that they burn everything. If you ever wondered why runners are so slim, that’s the reason. LISS cardio burns everything in its path to fuel your session. HIIT needs that muscle to power through the workout, so it uses your fat stores as a power source.

Psychologically speaking, HIIT is always challenging. You won’t have to worry about getting bored or losing motivation. And if you require a change, HIIT isn’t just for running. You can apply it to cycling, the elliptical machine and even the Stairmaster.

But a word of caution, HIIT shouldn’t be done every day. It’s highly effective and equally exhausting. If it’s done more than 2-3 times a week, you run the risk of burnout. For those guys looking for a powerful way to drop some fat and stay invested in their workouts, HIIT is the ultimate answer.