Tag Archives: HIIT

Interval Training May be the Best Way to Tone Up

About a year ago, I wanted to drop a few pounds. I began eating healthier and working out daily. My workouts included short strength training series and daily three-mile runs. There was no interval training. I didn’t know what it was.

Then, I decided to get crazy once I learned about workouts like Insanity, which use interval training to completely transform your body. After one month of interval training, I dropped about 10 pounds. I felt healthy and toned.

pullup

Now, I continue to incorporate some intervals into my everyday workout routine. I’ll tell you more and see if it’s a fit for you, too!

What is interval training?

Interval training is the process in which you do short bursts of intense exercise followed by a slightly longer recovery time. A great example of this is sprinting for 30 seconds and then jogging for 60 seconds. (more…)

Posted on April 19, 2024 by GuestBlogger

Bachelor Sean Lowe’s Abs Recipe: HIIT Training and Small Meals

Whether you’re female, male, a fan, or not a fan of the Bachelor’s Sean Lowe, it may have crossed your mind a time or two how this hottie got that amazing body of his. From what we’ve dug up, it looks like he’s putting in a lot of effort in the gym and the kitchen.

Sean has been working with his personal trainer, Sagi Kalev, since before he was cast on The Bachelorette for Emily Maynard’s season. Kalev put Lowe on his three-part body beast regimen that consists of high intensity interval training, fast and heavy weight lifting, and some serious focus on proper nutrition.

When Sean’s not spending all of his time filming on the show, he’s putting a lot of focus into eating a year-round healthy diet. His nutrition is based on eating 5-6 portioned meals a day with lean proteins, low glycemic carbohydrates, and essential fats (with some pizza and whoopie pies thrown in every once in awhile). (more…)

Posted on March 15, 2024 by Danielle

Four Day per Week Exercise Recommendation May do More Harm Than Good

We, as a society, are far too sedentary. We hear more and more than we’re killing ourselves by sitting and that the least amount of exercise we can get away with each week is 150 minutes, or 30 minutes on five days a week. Most people balk at that, citing that even a brief half hour most days is too much for their chaotic schedules. Could new research from the University of Alabama help you squeeze in a workout?


Four workouts each week might be all you need, according to the study just published in the Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. The study found that, amongst women ages 60-74, that they were getting as much out of a workout, if not more, by doing so four times per week than those doing more or even less. In the group that did three aerobic workouts and three resistance workouts per week, they did not train any better than their counterparts, completing two of each type of workout each week.

Fitness expert Jessica Smith balks slightly at the study results, suggesting they could be misleading.

“I would agree that you can do less ‘working out’ in one week (4 vs. 6 sessions), but I worry that this kind of a headline will make people think that they can just hit the gym four days a week and then be sedentary the rest of the time.” (more…)

Posted on February 19, 2024 by Natalie K

A Beginner’s Guide to HIIT Training

If you didn’t already know, HIIT stands for High Intensity Interval Training. The simplest way to explain HIIT is that it’s an organized cardiovascular training method. It’s comprised of high intensity exercise intervals of short durations mixed with low intensity intervals for recovery. It requires high effort (on an intensity scale of 1-10, at least a 7) of sprints lasting from thirty seconds to two minutes, followed with a different low intensity exercise lasting 1-2 minutes. The low intensity part of the workout is designed to be a break in order for your body to recover from the sprints and prepare itself to begin sprinting again.

What are the benefits of HIIT?

Why would someone choose HIIT over a standard, lengthier cardio session? The difference between the two is the amount of calories burned after the workout is complete. After finishing a long distance jog, your body stops burning calories as soon as you stop jogging. After HIIT training, you’re body continues to burn calories even after you’re done sprinting. That means you can spend less time on your cardio workout and still burn at least the same amount of calories, if not more. More benefits include: (more…)

Posted on February 4, 2024 by Danielle

7 Hot Health and Fitness Trends That Will Own 2024

As we end the first week of 2024, it seems appropriate to look ahead and forecast what will be the hot fitness and health trends of the upcoming year. It’s always fun to not only look back to archive a year, but seeing which trends will be big and make a mark this year is, too. We’ve rounded up the seven things we think everyone will be chatting about this year and in to 2024!

1. Fitness and Health Smartphone Apps. Last year was another big one for fitness apps. Just this week Consumer Reports noted that MyFitnessPal was at the top of their list for “DIY Dieting.” There are so many useful and effective programs available that, according to Huffington Post, it’s expected that even health professionals will start advocating for and recommending these apps to help keep their patients on track.

2. Crossfit and Women in the Weight Room. The popularity of Crossfit has yet to wane and as a result more women aren’t getting scared out of the weight room. It’s assumed that more women will take up these classes and practices this year. The benefits of heavy lifting are being revealed as social media has proven a great way to show off the results many women are seeing. Nevermind the internal benefits such as bone and heart health. (more…)

Posted on January 7, 2024 by Lacy

5 Rookie Fitness Mistakes You Can Correct Today

Would it surprise you to learn I was once an unfit mess? Not that I am perfect today, but about 14 years ago I started a journey to fitness and a quest to reclaim my life and health.

I was a poor college student who didn’t even know what a personal trainer was, much less had the spare cash to afford one. I started with a very inexpensive gym membership and two books: Weight Training for Dummies and Body For Life. Both are great books and I still recommend them today. But they leave a lot of room for interpretation, especially for someone as headstrong as I am.


Needless to say, I made quiet a few mistakes in the beginning of my journey. Let me share a few examples of my early missteps in hopes of saving you the time I wasted and the frustration I experienced.

1. Lifting weights like a guy. I had no idea how to train for fat loss vs. muscle gain. There is nothing wrong with a body part or upper/lower split, like the workout plan in Body for Life, it just isn’t the most effective for ladies trying to lose fat. This is especially true in the beginning. It took me quite a while to learn the value of a well-designed full body workout full of multi-joint compound movements like push ups and squats. (more…)

Posted on December 31, 2023 by Pamela

Tony Horton’s 90-Day Plan to Transform Your Body on Dr. Oz

Tune in November 13 to see special guest Tony Horton visit the Dr. Oz show. The 54-year-old is famous for his brand of fitness books and DVDs, most notably the in-home P90X program.

Horton brings an exclusive program to the Dr. Oz stage made specifically for Dr. Oz show viewers, a 90-day plan intended to transform your body for life. Horton tells Oz that anybody can do his fitness plan and the results will last for life. He gives three cardinal rules to follow and a ten-minute workout that everyone can do. (more…)

Posted on November 13, 2023 by SarahS

5 Steps to Automatically Burn Fat Like a Naturally Thin Person

By Jonathan Bailor

In part one of this article, we covered why the traditional calorie counting approach to weight loss fails for more than 95 percent of us. Now let’s cover the simple scientific alternative: Enabling our body to automatically balance calories for us around a slimmer set-point.

Too Good To Be True?

To get started, it sounds like I’m saying that our body can keep us slimmer much like it currently keeps us heavier, and that sounds too good to be true, right? Maybe not. We all know people who eat a lot and exercise a little and stay slim. They’re called naturally thin people, and they prove that the human body is capable of keeping us slim as reliably as it keeps us heavy. So the question is not: “Can the body burn fat automatically?” The question is: “How do we get our body to burn fat automatically like a naturally thin person?” Science shows us that the answer is surprisingly simple.

How Burning Fat Is Like Running Fast

Before we dig into the specifics of getting our bodies to work more like a naturally thin person’s body, let’s quickly set expectations by comparing our ability to burn fat with our ability to run fast. Everyone can run faster if they put a little effort in, but only a few of us will achieve world-class results no matter how much effort we put in. Why? Our genetics play a big role in how fast we are. Back to burning fat. Everyone can be slimmer if they put a little effort in, but only a few of us will achieve world-class results no matter how much effort we put in. Why? Our genetics play a big role in how slim we are.

The Good and Bad News of Burning Body Fat

So there’s good news and bad news. Let’s start with the bad news. For all intents and purposes we’re as likely to look like a fitness magazine cover model as we are to get on the cover of Sports Illustrated. On to the good news. I used the term “a little effort” earlier on purpose. Once we have access to simple and proven science instead of complex and profit-driven myths, getting and staying as slim as our genetics allow is much easier than we’ve been lead to believe.

For example, here’s are five simple steps to enable your body to work more like the body of a naturally thin person: (more…)

Posted on October 30, 2023 by GuestBlogger

Fat Burning Workouts for Non-Distance Runners

One of the best ways to lose fat is with some type of cardiovascular activity. The goal is to increase your heart rate in order to throw your body into fat burning mode. But the question is, which type of cardiovascular exercise is right for you?

It’s pretty common for the average American to only think of running as far and as long as they can when the word ‘cardio’ is mentioned. We tend to think that’s the only way to make an impact on the goals we’re trying to achieve.

The truth is, there are many different types of cardio that are either forgotten about or just plain ignored that can actually be extremely beneficial for our health. Try incorporating some of these workouts into your regular routine and note if you see any differences. Changing things up now and again is a great way to get out of plateau stage.

Walking on Incline
While on a treadmill, try adding at least a 5 percent incline. The benefits of walking upwards are tenfold over walking on a flat surface. For starters, it burns almost twice as many calories – walking flat for 30 minutes will burn around 145 calories; but if you raise the incline by only 5 percent, you can burn close to 243 calories.

(more…)

Posted on September 17, 2023 by Danielle

How Justin Bieber Stays Fit Boxing, Running and Eating Healthy

A video of Justin Bieber and Mike Tyson boxing is creating quite a buzz around the Web. And it has us wondering what exactly the young singer’s fitness routine is.

Rumors have circulated that as the teen star matures in his career, he seeks out new role models such as Tyson and fellow pop star Usher. With these new friendships come new activities, such as boxing sessions as Tyson’s personal gym.

This seems to fit Bieber’s personality as fitness has always been a part of his life despite a busy schedule. The singer has managed to stay in tip-top shape by making time for his workouts even though the past few years have been a whirlwind of concerts, video shoots, and countless TV appearances promoting his music.

After releasing his first album, Bieber went straight to performing his hits around the world, and was on and off tour for about a year. Globetrotting is just a part of Justin’s life and he has had to make adjustments to accommodate his hectic lifestyle. In order to do so, the star hired personal trainer Dolvett Quince to keep him in shape for his most recent tour; Quince is now a trainer on The Biggest Loser. (more…)

Posted on June 1, 2023 by Samantha

HIIT At-Home Workout by Jessica Smith

Try this high intensity, interval training workout to burn up more calories in less time (no equipment required)!

By Jessica Smith

This high intensity interval training workout, created by certified fitness expert Jessica Smith, coach of the High Intensity Interval Training: Cardio Workout Music Mix, is designed to help you cycle through periods of aerobic and anaerobic conditioning to help you improve your fitness level, shorten your workout time and burn up tons of calories in the process!

Here’s how it works: after an easy five minute warm up (you can walk, march or jog in place or practice some of your favorite fitness moves), you’ll perform the interval sets listed below. Each set includes a short, 60-second period of high intensity (all out effort) followed by a two minute active recovery, done at moderate intensity (allowing your body time to recover, and time for you to catch your breath). Depending on how long you want to workout for (and how much energy you have to spend) you can choose to do the three sets once, twice or three times through in total.

View HIIT At-Home Workout Slideshow (more…)

Posted on January 13, 2024 by Health Buzz