A highly requested post is comin’ in hot. I get this question a lot in e-mails, at the gym, on the street, even out to eat. I’m just trying to enjoy a nice meal and I get people running up to me asking, “why are 30 minute workouts more effective? Kaitlyn, we have to know!!!!”

Well, imaginary people in the restaurant that I just made up now, let me explain.

If you’ve never heard of HIIT, it stands for High Intensity Interval Training.

Essentially it means short quick bursts of exercise bringing your heart rate up with slower active rests bringing your heart rate back down.

Bringing your heart rate up and down so quickly burns more fat than standard steady state cardio or lifting sessions.

Why?

“When a person works out at an intensity they can’t sustain for a long period of time, two things happen: their muscles begin to burn and they start feeling out of breath. Why? Upon exertion, muscles start to fill up with lactic acid (the chemical responsible for that burning feeling) and the body’s oxygen stores become depleted.

These high-intensity training sessions force the body to work harder to build its oxygen stores back up — for a period of 16 to 24 hours post-workout, research suggests. The result: more calories burned than if you’d exercised at a lower intensity for the same (or longer) period of time. Think about it like maxing out your credit card: During rest, your body has to work hard to clear away the lactic acid and pay back its oxygen debt. Exactly how much you can burn after exercising directly correlates to the duration and intensity of your workout”

source: dailyburn

So if you go on an hour jog or spend that time on the elliptical at the same pace, you most likely will burn just the same amount of calories or less as you would in half the time with HIIT workouts. BUT you will stop burning calories at the end of that workout. With HIIT you will burn fat and calories up to 24 hours AFTER your workout. That’s why it is so effective!

Benefits of HIIT:

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Quick, Effective & Convenient 

One thing that makes these workouts so amazing is their duration and intensity. You get an intense, fast paced workout in a fraction of the time. You can literally do these workouts anywhere with absolutely no equipment. If you have a stop watch ( which you do, on your phone ) and some water, you’re set up. There is no excuse to not get this workout done. The best part? 30 minutes is all. you. need.

The biggest excuse in the world is lack of time. Everyone is busy but you have 30 minutes in your day. No one believes you when you say you don’t. Wake up 30 minutes earlier, do it when your kids are sleeping, lunch break, it doesn’t matter. YOU have time.

No Equipment Needed

Like I said this can be done anywhere and with little to no equipment. Your body weight is all you need to get a great burn. Adding weights and resistant training takes it to another level helping you convert your fat into muscle giving you a lean and toned body. Score!

Increase of Metabolism

This form of workout is perfect for any age. No matter your level of fitness, these types of workouts can kick your butt and speed up your metabolism with the constant heart rate increase and decrease. Which is what we want!

Never Get Bored

Our gym has been open for nearly 5 years and we haven’t repeated the same workout. We constantly switch it up, keeping our muscles guessing and confused along with our minds. 🙂 It’s important to find something quick, effective and fun.

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When you workout for durations of 60 minutes or more, you start to lose muscle instead of fat. Your body needs something to burn, and once you’ve used up all your fuel, you burn muscle. That’s the exact opposite of what you want. So unless you ate a huge meal beforehand, you won’t have enough energy to fuel your workout.

Spending 60 minutes on the elliptical or steady state running ( not sprints – sprints would be HIIT – we like sprints ) will:

a. not give you muscle definition 

b. sure, you’ll burn calories – but it stops there

c. start to use muscle for fuel 

d. takes up way too much time

e. most likely need equipment of some sort 

f. take you a long time to see results + very likely to plateau  

I haven’t been on a run in 4 years and man, it feels good.

If you enjoy running for fun, there’s nothing wrong with that. However, if you’re doing that to lose weight or gain lean muscle, that’s not the approach to take.

The most beneficial thing for you would be grabbing some weights, resistant bands and incorporating that with body weight exercises for 30 minutes.

So why HIIT? There are so many studies showing that this is in fact the best workout for fat loss and lean muscle building. I hate science but it’s on my side here.

I also believe in lifting weights for a lean, strong body. I combine 3-4 sessions of HIIT a week along with 2 lifting sessions. Keep in mind I also lift in my HIIT sessions.

I have no reason to convince you of this. I just genuinely want you to experience how great and fast you can lose weight, and gain lean muscle. All the workouts I provide for free on this site are what we do in bootcamp. We’ve helped thousands of people who have walked through our doors and their lives have changed. I want the same for you and if you’re feeling stuck or like nothing works for you, try this! Do one of my workouts, you won’t regret it.

If you have done one of my workouts or HIIT workouts in general, share your experience below! I hope this was helpful, please don’t hesitate to ask any questions!

find workouts: here 

Have a great weekend –

all my love,

Just a few results: 

 

photo of me: Rick Gmitro | FlowEventGroup.com