© Get Lean Program Belinda Benn 2012 - 1cardio training, it won’t be fat mass that you’re losing but lean muscle tissue. With HIIT, as you lose the fat, you’ll also begin to

© Get Lean Program Belinda Benn 2012 - 1 -


Table of Contents

Table of Contents ............................................................................................ 2

You Need to Know About HIIT ........................................................................... 3

Why HIIT Is The Preferred Method For Fat Burning And Body Sculpting .......................... 4

When Steady State Cardio Is OK ..................................................................... 11

Why And How HIIT Works .............................................................................. 16

HIIT For The Various Fitness Levels ................................................................. 21

Starter HIIT 6 Week Program .......................................................................... 26

How To Do It ................................................................................................ 26

How to Estimate Your Target Heart Rate .......................................................... 27

C a u t i o n s ............................................................................................... 28

Starter HIIT 6 W e e k P r o g r a m ................................................................. 28

Alternatives & Progressions ............................................................................ 29

Why You Must Vary Your HIIT Training Routine ......................................................... 29

When Not To Do HIIT .................................................................................... 33

Nutrition And Hydration During HIIT ................................................................ 35

How To Add HIIT To Your GL Workouts ............................................................ 38

Frequently Asked Questions ............................................................................ 39

Conclusion ................................................................................................... 42


You Need to Know About HIIT

Welcome to your guide on high intensity interval training. HIIT is one of the

most effective forms of exercise that you could be doing if you want to get

your body in top shape, yet one that so many people are still leaving out of

the picture.

In some cases it’s because they simply don’t know enough about HIIT and

how to integrate it properly in their program plan.

In other cases it’s because they don’t like how intense it is. It’s true, HIIT is

one of the most intense forms of training that you can do, but that’s what

makes it so effective.

The good news however, is that if you learn how to do it properly and take

precautionary pre-workout and post-workout recovery strategies, you will feel

better after completing your HIIT and won’t come to find that you dread them

so much due to their intensity.

This isn’t to say all people will struggle with HIIT being too intense, but those

who do it incorrectly or haven’t give their body enough time to adapt and

adjust to it may notice that they do have difficulty keeping up.

That is why we’re going to go over precisely what you need to know about

HIIT in this manual so that you can be sure you’re doing it correctly.

Remember that before you start any type of workout program, whether it’s

HIIT, a weight lifting workout, or anything else of that nature, you speak with

your doctor and get the go ahead. It’s important that you are physically in the

position to be able to perform exercise of that intensity without putting your

body at risk, so check into this first before moving onward. Now let’s get

started and introduce you to everything you need to know about HIIT.


Why HIIT Is The Preferred Method For Fat

Burning And Body Sculpting

So why is it that you should be doing HIIT in the first place? What is it that

makes it so effective and great for totally changing your body?

Here are some of the primary reasons why HIIT is the preferred type of fat

burning training to sculpt your body quickly.

HIIT Burns Fat Not Muscle

The very first reason why HIIT is the most optimal form of training to burn fat

and sculpt your muscles is because it’s going to help you burn fat, not lean

muscle mass.

One of the biggest issues with hours and hours of moderate paced cardio

training is that there is a much higher chance that you will begin to use your

muscle tissue as a fuel source, rather than utilizing body fat stores.

This further increases if you’re using a lower calorie diet as well, especially

one where you aren’t getting in enough protein or carbohydrates.

HIIT is short and intense so will actually require your muscles to work harder

than they ever have, keeping up with the powerful muscle contractions that

are required for that workout session.

The long, slow, steady state cardio doesn’t require all that much muscle

power to do, therefore the body realizes that it could do without it’s lean

muscle mass stores. Therefore, they get used up for energy.


HIIT Has A Lower Risk Of Overtraining

Another reason why HIIT is the preferred source of training to burn fat and

totally transform your body is because it presents a lower risk of overtraining

as well.

Now, you must note that this does come with the condition that you are

making sure to structure your workout routine properly. As HIIT is such an

intense form of training, if you are doing it for too many days in a row, that

can present a problem as far as your CNS recovery goes. It is stressful to the

body and does take time to recover from.

But since the sessions are shorter and there is far less wear and tear on the

muscles and joints, muscular overtraining is far less likely to take effect.

With any exercise there is always the risk of overtraining, but with regular

long duration cardio done for hours per week, it’s definitely going to be much

higher.

HIIT Will Lean You Down While Sculpting The Body

Moving along, another clear benefit that HIIT has to offer over other forms of

training is the fact that it will cause you to become much leaner while at the

same time building muscle tissue.

The reason for this being that HIIT is anabolic in nature so it will promote the

release of muscle building hormones in the body such as testosterone and

growth hormone.

With low intensity training however, no growth hormone will be released but

rather, it’s more likely that cortisol will be released, which will actually cause

you to lose lean muscle mass as it breaks down your lean tissue.


This means that even if you do get slightly smaller while doing steady state

cardio training, it won’t be fat mass that you’re losing but lean muscle tissue.

With HIIT, as you lose the fat, you’ll also begin to gain muscle definition

therefore looking better overall. This is due to the nature in which HIIT is

going to work your muscle fibers in the body, as it’s far more like weight

lifting than steady state cardio training is.

Weight lifting earns top marks for transforming your body, so HIIT is the next

best thing and the only way to achieve this while performing cardio training.

Most people will start to notice the positive effects of HIIT after just a few

short weeks of starting it, so these improvements in your physique will

definitely help inspire you to continue on.

HIIT Raises The Fat Burning Metabolism In The Body

The next extremely good benefit that HIIT is going to bring is to help enhance

the fat burning capabilities in the body. When you perform HIIT, you’re going

to increase some of the natural fat burning enzymes that help to speed up the

fat burning reactions taking place both while exercising as well as at rest,

making your body more capable to burn off body fat stores when you’re using

a correct diet plan.

Those individuals who are able to enhance their own fat burning metabolism

are also going to be able to become ‘fat resistant’, meaning that they’ll be far

less likely to gain additional body fat into the future as well.

This is an extremely powerful benefit because weight maintenance is one

thing that far too many do struggle with. Sure, you may lose the weight

initially while you’re carefully monitoring your diet and making sure to provide

your body with the perfect amount of calories.


But once you do start to relax your diet a bit more, if you aren’t careful, you

may find that the weight comes creeping back on. HIIT will help to prevent

this as you’ll continue to be burning calories and fat at an elevated pace all

day long.

While you may not think the results will be all that dramatic, really do not

overlook this. Even if you can elevate your basal metabolic rate 10 calories

per hour over the 24 hour period after performing HIIT training, this would

translate to an additional 240 calories per day. If you do 3 HIIT sessions per

week, that means that you’ll lose almost an additional full pound of body fat

simple due to the fact that you were doing HIIT training over regular style

training.

That’s not even to account for the actual calories burned during the session.

And remember, this does vary for many people. While some may only

experience a 10 calorie per hour boost to their metabolism (for example),

others may experience a higher boost up to 20 calories or more.

This is dependent on a number of different factors such as your current

fitness level, how much lean muscle mass you have, your diet, as well as how

intensely you are working during that session and how long it lasts.

Those who work out at higher intensities will always burn more calories than

those who don’t so more advanced trainees doing HIIT will tend to experience

better results from it than beginners.

Don’t let this discourage you if you are a beginner however, it simply means

that’s more the reason to get started right away with your training so you can

become more advanced shortly.


HIIT Increases Your Cardiovascular Fitness Level

Speaking of beginners and advanced trainees, that brings us to our next

important point, cardiovascular fitness.

As far as improving your fitness level goes, nothing will beat HIIT training.

Due to the fact that HIIT causes you to raise your heart rate to such a

considerable extent, this will really go a long way to boosting your work

tolerance capabilities and the ability to generate a high amount of force in a

short period of time.

HIIT training is also going to increase your muscular power, which is worked

into the force generation potential as well as and will transfer over very well

into any other activities you perform out of the gym such as sports or other

physical pursuits.

Even your weight lifting performance should benefit from including some HIIT

into the mix. While steady state cardio training can help to boost your

cardiovascular endurance capabilities, it really does very little to improve your

body’s ability to tolerate fatigue, enhancing the rate at which you clear away

lactic acid build-up.

The really great thing about HIIT as well is that it won’t take much time at all

to see these fitness improvements. With just a few weeks of HIIT training,

you will already see many physical benefits taking place, and performing your

HIIT on a regular basis will be that much more tolerable for your body.


HIIT Improves Blood Circulation

The next important benefit to note about HIIT training is that it will also go a

long way towards improving your blood circulation. This has benefits in many

ways.

First, maintaining good blood circulation is important simply for overall health

benefits. Those with good circulation will have better functioning bodies and

will be able to make sure that their tissues get the oxygen that they need.

Secondly, and more importantly for those who are very active on a regular

basis, this improved blood circulation is going to help to improve the delivery

of nutrients to the working cells, meaning that they will experience a much

faster rate of recovery after each workout session is completed and even be

able to exercise for longer while performing the workout in question.

Since all the glucose that the muscles need for fuel will be transported to the

muscles via the blood, the more glucose the muscles have being delivered to

them, the more energy you’re going to have.

Those with poor blood circulation will find that they tire out quickly and don’t

see nearly the same gains from their program as they should.

HIIT Produces Top Notch Results In Half The Time

The most important benefit of HIIT that most people reading this will be

wondering about is the results that it will produce.

Due to all of the benefits that we listed above, HIIT is going to produce the

best results over a short period of time. You’ll see physical improvements

after just a few sessions and then start noticing fat loss results taking place in

less than a few weeks’ time.


For those who want to change their body quickly, this is definitely the way to

go.

With effort comes results so while HIIT does take more effort on your part to

complete, it’s going to be well worth it.

HIIT Is Less Stressful On Tendons And Joints

Finally, the last main advantage to performing high intensity interval training

that you need to keep in the back of your mind is the fact that it is less

stressful on your tendons and joints.

Long duration cardio training, especially when running is your mode of chosen

activity is going to get very hard on the body, eventually causing chronic

injuries such as knee and back pain to set in.

HIIT, being that it is so short in duration and the fact that it only needs to be

performed a few times per week is going to be far less taxing on the body and

will ensure that you come into each session feeling recovered rather than

feeling as though you’re dragging every second of the way.

Overuse injuries are incredibly common with the moderate paced activities so

if you want to spend a long time to come remaining active, it’s best to

venture into HIIT training.

So there you have some of the biggest reasons why you should be including

HIIT in your workout program and why it’s considered the best fat burning

activity that you could do.

HIIT is something that continually produces results and you can keep up for

as long as you wish to remain active and improve your physique.


Even once you no longer wish to lose any further body fat, keeping up with

your workout sessions is still going to be a great idea because this is going to

ensure that you are maintaining that lean body for years to come and also

will help to keep you in top physical condition.

Now, this isn’t to say that you should only be doing HIIT however. In some

situations, the steady state forms of cardio can actually be a good idea. The

key is knowing when these forms of cardio are superior to HIIT and then

adding them in accordingly.

Let’s spend a little bit of time discussing that right now.

When Steady State Cardio Is OK

Some people may wish to include both steady state cardio as well as HIIT into

their workout program, while some others may prefer to just go with steady

state cardio instead.

The reasoning behind your approach will depend on a few different factors

and by taking the time to assess your situation and what each form of

exercise has to offer you can make sure that you’re making an informed

decision of what is going to be best for you.

Let’s have a quick look at the few instances where steady state should not be

added to the mix.


You Can’t Do High Impact Exercise

The very first time when it is a good idea to add some steady state cardio into

the mix is if you, for whatever reason, are unable to perform high intensity

interval training that’s high impact in nature.

Many steady state activities such as swimming or cycling will be much lower

impact, so won’t be quite as taxing on the joints from that perspective.

If you are already suffering from nagging back pain for instance, going out

and performing running sprints is likely going to be out of the question.

But going out and getting in a good swim won’t and this will still help you

burn calories and work your cardiovascular system at the same time.

Therefore, you can still maintain some fitness and promote weight loss

without having to further cause pain to your body.

You’re Simply Looking For Recreation

The next time when steady state cardio is okay to perform is if you’re just

looking for exercise for recreational purposes. For example, if you just want

to go out for a leisurely bike ride with your family, you obviously aren’t going

to be doing wind sprints with a 10 year old.

Or, if you just want to enjoy some casual exercise with a friend while you

catch up on each other’s lives, something that is lower intensity and allows for

you to maintain a conversation will be far more ideal.

It is important to balance your intense workout sessions with lifestyle based

physical activity as this is what will help to keep you mentally fresh and ready

to continue to push harder on those gym workouts that you do complete.


You Are Performing Intense Weight Lifting Often

Moving along, another instance in which you may want to keep steady state

training in the mix is if you are performing multiple heavy weight lifting

workouts each week.

If you’re in the gym lifting heavy weights four to five days a week, this is

going to be very taxing on the body and the CNS and if you were to add three

HIIT sessions as well, you’re definitely asking for trouble.

Remember that the body can only handle so much intense exercise before

major problems will start to occur, so you’ll need to make sure that you are

balancing the activity with sufficient rest.

On a five-day-a-week intense weight lifting program, when will this rest take

place if you’re adding HIIT to the mix?

It won’t, in which case steady state will have to be added.

If you’re only performing weight lifting sessions two to three times per week

however, then you can schedule in another 2-3 HIIT sessions without having

to worry too much about it becoming intolerable for the body.

You’re Recovering From An Injury Or Illness

Moving along, the next instance in which steady state cardio can make for a

good addition to your workout program is if you are recovering from an injury

or an illness. Doing intense activity at both of these times just isn’t going to

be ideal for helping you get fully healed and well again so that you can

continue with your program while you feel 100%, so making sure that you are

backing off is important.


Steady state cardio will still help you maintain some degree of your fitness

level while burning calories so that weight loss can continue to take place

should that be your goal.

In many situations as well, some light cardio training can help to promote a

faster recovery overall due to the fact that it is going to help to increase blood

circulation and get your heart rate up lightly.

As long as the injury is not completely debilitating or you are in intense pain

any time you put weight on it or perform the activity, generally steady state

cardio at a lower intensity is definitely fine to include during the recovery time

period.

You Want Active Recovery From Gym Sessions

Finally, the last time when some steady state cardio is good to add into your

workout routine is at the times when you do want some active recovery from

your gym sessions.

For instance immediately after you finish up a hard leg workout, you may

want to go on the treadmill for ten to fifteen minutes doing a light walk as

this can help to clear away the lactic acid build-up that’s taking place due to

that session and make you feel well again sooner.

Or, if you’re doing a full body workout program and have an on/off schedule,

some light cardio training on the off days can improve the rate at which you

recover by getting the blood moving into the muscles, delivering nutrients for

the repair process to take place.

While some people may be able to insert a HIIT session on their off days

between full body workouts, for many people this won’t be the case. It’ll still


be just too much on their body and they won’t get a good recovery if they

don’t take time away from the very intense workout sessions.

So there you have a few of the instances where steady state cardio training is

wise to include in your program. Notice how in many of these there is either

something hindering your ability to perform more intense physical activity or

on the other hand, you are doing too much intense activity as well, which is

why your ability to perform the intense HIIT sessions is hindered.

In all other cases, you should be trying to use HIIT as much as you can while

still staying recovered to progress along with your body transformation and

fitness goals.

Now that you have an idea when it isn’t as appropriate to include HIIT, let’s

move on and talk more about why and how you should be including HIIT into

your program plan. At this point we’ll go over the basic principles that you

need to know about this form of activity.


Why And How HIIT Works

Understanding how to perform HIIT properly is going to be very important to

helping you get started off on the right foot and find a way to enjoy the

workouts that you use this technique with.

Remember that there is never any ‘one’ perfect method for everyone.

Rather, you need to evaluate your own personal preferences when selecting

your exercise program approach, thinking about what is going to work most

ideally for you. Don’t try and do a form of HIIT that your friend does just

because they’ve seen good results if you think you’ll hate it.

Find a form of HIIT that you can actually enjoy because then your chances of

sticking with it are going to be that much better.

Let’s have a quick look at the important things that you need to know about

HIIT.

Different Forms Of HIIT You Can Perform

First you’ll want to consider the different forms of HIIT you can do from a

cardio perspective. Many people will be fast to jump on a piece of cardio

equipment to get their HIIT in, but in many cases this is not the most ideal

approach.

The problem with cardio machines as far as HIIT goes is the fact that they will

be hard to accelerate very quickly as you speed up and slow down with each

interval. If you are doing shorter intervals of just 20-30 seconds, you’ll spend

more of your workout accelerating and decelerating (this is especially the

case with treadmills) than you will actually doing the sprint.


Outdoor sprints in that instance tend to work better. Or for an even better

challenge, you might consider outdoor hill sprints where you run up a hill and

then walk back down again. This will really up the overall results you see

because you’ll not only be getting your heart rate up to a very high rate, but

you’ll also be working all the lower body muscles as well as they contract to

propel you upwards. If you’re someone who wants to work on your strength

generation abilities, this is the form of exercise that you will definitely want to

be doing.

Skipping also makes for another good way to perform HIIT as skipping itself

is generally very intensive and will really work the body in a manner most

exercises won’t.

Skip as fast as you possibly can for a minute or two straight and see just how

you feel. Skipping can burn just as much fat as running intervals can and you

don’t have to have any special equipment to do it. Best of all, you’ll get both

an upper and lower body workout, which is something that cannot be said for

those doing running intervals.

For those who need a less intense form of HIIT, swimming is a good activity

to consider. Swimming is great because it’s entirely non-impact in nature and

as long as you are making sure to push yourself hard, you can still see

fantastic conditioning improvements. Just like skipping, this is another full

body form of exercise so is great for burning up calories and improving your

physical conditioning quickly.

Finally, the last form of HIIT that you might consider is a bodyweight circuit.

This should definitely be considered by those who aren’t doing any form of

structured weight training as it will go a long way towards boosting your level

of muscle tone and definition, which is vital for helping ensure that you are

going to look lean and fit rather than just soft but thin. Those who just lose

weight often get to be what’s called ‘skinny fat’ where they may have a low


body weight but have a low percentage of muscle mass with a high

percentage of body fat. This isn’t an attractive look to obtain, which is why

some form of resistance training in your workouts is important.

Circuit training with bodyweight exercises will provide this. With this

approach, you’d perform 20-30 reps of body weight exercises such as squats,

lunges, push-ups, dips, pull-ups, and so on, taking periodic breaks in between

your sets.

This will boost your heart rate in much the same way as HIIT would and help

to fully condition the body at the same time.

Using The Class Approach For HIIT

Now, for those who prefer something really definite and would like to add a

social element to their training, considering a class approach for your HIIT will

be a wise decision. With so many new fitness classes coming available, gone

are the days when your only option seemed to be step aerobics.

Now there are plenty to choose from that will challenge your fitness level to

many different degrees and ensure you have fun doing it all the while.

So what options are there for class style approaches to HIIT?

The first type of class that you might want to consider is kickboxing.

Kickboxing is a great way to strengthen and condition both the upper and

lower body, while working on your speed and power as well. Since you’ll be

going at an intensive pace for a short period of time and then backing off and

resting for a while afterwards, this makes kickboxing ideal for boosting your

metabolism and improving your fitness level. Kickboxing will also help to

improve your agility, balance, and coordination as well, all factors that will

improve your overall fitness level.


There are also some forms of dynamic yoga classes that can be a great option

for getting in some HIIT as well. Since yoga is a more traditional relaxation

focused exercise, you will definitely want to take some time to inquire about

what the overall approach to the class you’re considering doing is to make

sure that it is intense in nature.

If you are doing a yoga class that requires you to move from position to

position with no rest in between and each position is requiring a number of

muscles to contract all at once, you can be sure however that that class is

going to have you reaping all the benefits that HIIT has to offer.

Finally, another group class option to consider for your HIIT would be a group

boot camp class. These boot camp classes have you moving from one

exercise to the next immediately after each other and will only offer rest

periods sporadically throughout the session.

You’re going to be moving between cardiovascular training activities and

strength based movements in the boot camp, getting the best of both worlds

as far as improvements to your fitness level goes.

With boot camp training you’ll see firming and toning as well as fat loss

occurring, really allowing you to accelerate the transformation that you

complete.

The group atmosphere of boot camp classes that does tend to get a little

competitive depending on the instructor and the individuals that you’re doing

it with will really help bring out your best effort as well, ensuring that you do

see the top level results that you’re after.

So don’t think that you have to do your HIIT just as a regular cardio machine

workout. There are plenty of other ways to incorporate this training into your

plan that will all offer really terrific physical and fat loss benefits.


The Importance Of Monitoring Your Heart Rate During HIIT Training

Finally, we also need to make some mention of the importance of monitoring

your heart rate as you go about your high intensity training. Your heart rate

is going to be one of the primary measures that you use to determine if you

are in fact working at the right intensity to see physical improvements

occurring. If you can get up to 85-90% of your maximum heart rate as you

perform your HIIT intervals, you can rest assured that you’ll be reaping

physical improvements because of this.

By monitoring your heart rate as you go about completing these workouts, it’s

also going to help you see firsthand the training benefits that are occurring.

As time progresses onwards, you should notice that your heart rate doesn’t

get quite as high at a certain given level of intensity, indicating that training

adaptation has taken place.

Once you notice that your heart rate is lower when working at that certain

lower intensity again, this is a clear sign that it’s time to increase the pace

again so that you are continuing to improve. Remember, the best way to

beat a plateau from starting in the first place is to make continual

adjustments to your program to ensure that you are never doing the same

workout over and over again for weeks on end.

We’ll be discussing this in greater detail shortly, but for now note that using a

heart rate monitor can help ensure that you don’t do that. Investing in a

good quality one is simply one of the top things that you can do to guarantee

that you make the most of all the HIIT sessions that you perform.

Some people may also want to look into heart rate monitors that act as

pedometers as well because then if you are going to be doing outside running


interval training, you can use the pedometer to figure out how far you’ve

travelled.

If for instance you want to do 500 meter sprints, this will easily allow you to

be able to track that and know when to stop. While most people will use

timed sprints, if you’re someone who is training for a certain track event, then

it will be a necessity to use distance instead.

Plus, with distance intervals this provides another clear indication of your

progress – if you complete your intended distance in a shorter and shorter

time period, you can easily see that progress is in fact being made.

So there you have the main basic principles to note about HIIT. Next we’re

going to look at some of the different ways that HIIT can be done for the

beginner, intermediate, as well as advanced trainees.

HIIT For The Various Fitness Levels

Now that you’ve had more of a chance to understand what HIIT is, we need

to consider how you would go about performing it based around your current

fitness level. A beginner’s HIIT program is going to be far different in nature

than someone who is much more advanced and who has spent a number of

years training already, so this must be taken into account.

It’s important to do an honest assessment of your current fitness level before

beginning. Try not to elaborate on what you can actually handle at this point.

While it may be tempting to believe that you are much more fit than you

really are and can jump right into the advanced protocols, remember that this

is only going to hurt you in the long run.


Not only will it increase the chances that you end up injured, burnt out, or

sidelined, but it will also increase the chances that you don’t enjoy yourself

and stop altogether because of this.

Therefore, having a good understanding of how to approach your HIIT

sessions will be important. Let’s look at the main things that you need to

consider for each skill level.

Beginners

If you’re a beginner just getting started, the main thing that you must

remember at all times is slow and easy. Don’t force yourself into it. Progress

at a pace that’s natural and comfortable for you so that you allow the body

the adjustment period it needs to accommodate to this form of activity.

Beginners will be well suited using long active rest intervals with short

moderate intense work intervals. Often the best way to approach this is a

walk/jog set-up.

Walk for 2-3 minutes and then jog for about a minute. Walk for another 2-3

minutes (or however long it takes for you to start feeling ready again) and

then jog for another minute for your second interval. Keep repeating this

until 30 minutes or so is complete. Keep in mind that beginners, provided

they aren’t pushing too hard with the intensity, can keep their sessions to a

slightly higher total duration due to the fact that they are working at

moderate paces. When first starting, it’s better to err on the longer yet lower

intense side of things than go for a full out intensity and do a shorter

workout.


The body will have an easier time adapting to duration than sheer intensity so

as you progress and become more fit, you can work on shortening the session

while increasing that intensity upwards.

Beginners may also consider doing their intervals on a stationary bike as

these are a lower impact activity that will get their body used to working at

that higher intensity without placing so much stress and impact on the joints.

Swimming is another great option as well for similar reasons as biking.

Swimming is especially good for those who do have more weight to lose since

it is completely non-impact in nature and will work both the upper and lower

body, burning off a higher overall number of calories.

Intermediate

Moving along, next we come to the intermediate level. This level is best

described as someone who has been exercising for at least six months and

who can easily complete a 30-45 minute continuous session of cardio training.

At this point, you may have performed a few sessions of interval training

before, but haven’t really given much full effort or devotion to it. Now,

however, you are looking to get started with it so that you can reap all the

benefits that it has to offer.

Those who are in this intermediate skill level will be increasing the intensity

while shortening up on the duration side of things.

For example, if you’re going to be doing walking/jogging or running sprints,

you might have your work interval lasting between 30-60 seconds while your

rest interval lasts for 60 seconds now. This is a shorter rest to work break,


which is what will get your body working harder as you’re forced to recover in

a shorter period of time.

You would go on to repeat the work to rest intervals a total of 6 to 10 times

per session, leaving you with a 20-30 minute workout.

Intermediate trainees may also advance their HIIT now to bodyweight

circuits, running stairs, walking on a steep incline (or performing hill sprints)

or using any other cardio machine of their choosing. The important thing to

really focus on at this stage is making sure that you are giving a full effort the

entire time you’re doing the activity so that you can start pushing the barriers

on your fitness level.

Advanced

Once you’ve been doing your HIIT for 3-6 months, then it’s time to look at

pushing the barriers one step further and really kicking things up a notch.

Advanced trainees will be capable now of performing wind sprints, which is a

term used to describe running as fast as you possibly can in a full out sprint

and then stopping and rest for 30-60 seconds to recover. Typically these

sprints only last 20 seconds or so in length since they are so intense, but you

can also take them slightly longer if you desire. Just remember that there will

be a direct correlation between how intensely you are sprinting and the length

of the interval.

Rest is also adjusted based on the length of the interval with the more

intense the interval, the longer the rest period that will be required.

Advanced trainees will still want to consider bodyweight circuits as a form of

HIIT. At this point you may even add a very light weight into the mix for

added resistance but keep in mind these are still to stay cardio oriented, not


weight lifting oriented. The minute that you start making them more strength

based is the minute you’re missing out on what this exercise is supposed to

be about.

Keep the weight lighter and instead focus on keeping up the pace of the

circuit.

Skipping is the next great form of HIIT for more advanced level trainees.

With skipping, you’ll skip as fast as you can for 30-60 seconds, and then

either skip at a much lower intensity pace for 60 seconds or just stop and

walk around the room for the rest interval.

Skipping is nice since it will work both the upper and lower body at the same

time as we’ve mentioned earlier in this guide.

Stair climbing is the final technique that more advanced level trainee might

start looking into. Climbing stairs is going to work all the lower body muscles

to a large extent and really help to get your heart rate up at the same time.

In terms of enhancing your overall calorie burn it really can’t be beat.

At the advanced level, regardless of the mode of HIIT that you happen to be

doing, you can choose between a number of different interval length

durations. Some people may prefer to keep their intervals shorter at the 20

seconds mark with 60 seconds for active rest while others may use a 30/90

set-up.

If you are going to take the work interval duration up to 60 seconds, then

consider using a 60 second rest period as well, as you simply won’t need as

much time to recover from that work interval as it will be of a lower intensity

due to the fact that you aren’t working out as hard. You’ll have to adjust the

intensity to be able to carry it out over the full 60 seconds, so keep that in

mind. The lower the intensity, the less rest time you’ll require.


Now that you’ve seen the different ways that you can perform HIIT for the

various skill levels, let’s take a look at a 6 week HIIT program that you can

implement to get started.

Starter HIIT 6 Week Program

This starter program involves short intervals of maximum effort (1-2 minutes)

separated by longer intervals of slower recovery (4 minutes). It will:

• Condition your anaerobic and aerobic energy systems.

• Increase the amount of calories you burn during and after your

workout.

• Cause metabolic adaptations that enable you to use more fat as fuel to

improve endurance as well as your fat-burning potential.

• Limit muscle loss that can occur during weight loss, when compared to

traditional steady-state cardio exercise of longer duration.

How To Do It

Before starting you should be able to exercise for at least 20-30 minutes at

70-85% of your estimated maximum heart rate, without exhausting yourself

or having any problems.

It’s important to gradually build so that you don’t overdo it. Always warm up

and cool down for at least five minutes before and after each HIIT session.


Work as hard as you can during the high intensity intervals, until you feel the

burning sensation in your muscles (lactic acid) indicating that you have

entered your anaerobic zone.

Full recovery from this point takes around four minutes. If you experience any

chest pain or breathing difficulties during your HIIT workout, cool down

immediately.

(Don't just stop or else blood can pool in your extremities and light-

headedness or faintness can occur.)

If your heart rate does not drop back down to about 70% of your max during

recovery intervals, you may need to shorten your work intervals and/or

lengthen your recovery intervals.

You can run-walk, inside on the treadmill or outside, cycle on the stationary

bike or outside, use the elliptical or any other exercise machine. You can also

do intervals with swimming, rowing, cross-country skiing, or any other

aerobic sport.

How to Estimate Your Target Heart Rate

Understanding your own personal heart rate zones and how they relate to

your level of exertion is important to getting the most out of your training.

The following formula is a general guide only. Your zones will vary according

to many factors including your genetic capacity, fitness levels and CO2max.

• Your maximum heart rate: 220 minus your age

• 85% of your maximum heart rate: 220 minus your age x 0.85

• 70% of your maximum heart rate: 220 minus your age x 0.70


C a u t i o n s

The heavier you are, the more you should focus on non-weight

bearing activities until you lose a significant amount of weight and

improve your fitness. Swimming, the elliptical and the stationary

bike are great.

Check with your doctor before starting interval training if you have any

questions about the health of your heart or other medical conditions that

might be affected by high-intensity workouts. If you have trouble with your

knees, then speeding up for work intervals of walking, jogging, or running,

might be too difficult. Consult your doctor.

Starter HIIT 6 W e e k P r o g r a m

Week Warm up

Work Interval

(Max Intensity)

Recovery Interval

(60-‐70% MHR) Repeat

Cool

down

Total

Workout Time

1 5 min. 1 min. 4 min. x 3 5 min. 25 min.


3 5 min. 1.5 min. 4 min. x 3 5 min. 26.5 min.

4 5 min. 1.5 min. 4 min. x 4 5 min. 32 min.

5 5 min. 1.5 min. 4 min. x 4 5 min. 32 min.



Alternatives & Progressions

To improve your HIIT fitness levels and keep seeing progress vary your

program with cross training or a simple bodyweight circuit of 4 exercises each

with 20 repetitions repeated 3 times. Another option is using different forms

of cardio each workout (running, swimming, biking, kickboxing class) or doing

10 minutes on 3 different cardio machines. The most important take away is

that after 6 weeks you introduce regular variations to keep it challenging so

you keep seeing improvement in performance and progress in your physique

goals.

Note: Make sure that you perform a proper warm-up along with cool-down

after each session that you complete. Now let’s move on and look at why

varying your routine is so critical for success. Keep reading!

Why You Must Vary Your HIIT Training Routine

One of the key components of seeing success with HIIT is making sure that

you get sufficient variety in your HIIT training routine. This is perhaps one of

the biggest mistakes that many people make as they go about their program

and it can end up costing them hugely when it comes to long term results.

They’ll see great results when they first start out on their program, but as

time passes along, they’re going to notice that slowly those results start to

fade.

Pretty soon, they’re not seeing any further progress with their program

despite the fact that they are keeping up their high level of efforts.


What gives?

How come they aren’t making the progress they thought they would?

The reason for this lack of progress is, simply put, lack of variety.

Let’s look at why this is a must for ongoing results.

Keeps The Body Working Hard

The very first reason why it’s a good idea to be varying your HIIT routine over

time is because this will ensure that you keep working the body as hard as

possible. Since the overall goal of any workout program is to become more fit

and stronger, as you achieve this goal, you must begin adjusting the program

plan to ensure that you continue to push the barriers. If you don’t, then

you’re simply going to stay at one level of fitness and maintain that from then

onwards.

It’s the constant change in your HIIT routine – the continual challenge as time

moves along that is going to make sure that you end up where you want to

be in the long run.

It’s no different than learning a new subject in school. Once you’ve mastered

the first chapter of the subject, you need to move on to the next chapter to

continue to expand your knowledge and see ongoing progress.

If you just continued to re-read the same chapter over and over again, what

point would there be to that? There would be no point as you have already

gained that knowledge. It’s time to move forward and learn something new.

Likewise with HIIT training, it’s time for you to move forward and challenge

your body to the next level.


Helps Reduce The Risk Of Joint Pain

The second reason why you need to be adding sufficient variety to your HIIT

training about once every six weeks is that this will also go a long way

towards helping reduce the amount of joint pain you may begin to

experience.

If you’re always performing the same sessions over and over again,

eventually this is going to create large wear and tear on your joint tissues.

Despite the fact that HIIT doesn’t tend to cause as many problems as that

long duration, moderate paced cardio due to the fact that you aren’t doing a

repetitive motion for extended periods of time, there is still a risk of pain.

Especially since this form of training does tend to be higher impact in nature

(depending on the variety, of course), a break in the particular type of

training you’re doing once in a while is important.

Keeps Your Mind Mentally Fresh

The second reason why having some variety added to your HIIT is important

is because this is also going to help to keep your mind mentally fresh as well.

Just like with any other activity and form of exercise in your life, do it often

enough, day in and day out, and eventually it is going to become tiresome.

You simply will find that your focus and concentration starts to drop and

sooner or later, you can hardly tolerate 10-20 minutes of the activity.

By changing the form of HIIT that you’re doing every six weeks, you’ll keep

your mind mentally fresh, which will also help to make sure that you are

going to be maximally challenging yourself as well.


When you’re more focused on the activity that you’re performing, you will put

in more effort naturally, so this will yield better overall results.

Challenges New Muscles

Another great benefit to making sure that you are changing your HIIT

program every six weeks or so is that it will also help to continuously

challenge new muscles as well. While most people will definitely have a

preferred type of exercise mode to perform their HIIT with, if you can vary

this up over time, you can work the body through different movement

patterns, which will boost your level of agility and coordination, while bringing

new muscle groups into play that weren’t being worked to a high extent

before.

This will bring about more progress as well, so will help make sure that you

are seeing continual results with your program.

Changing your HIIT program every six weeks doesn’t have to be a difficult

feat to accomplish. You can simply just alter the length of the interval, switch

to a new cardio machine, move from a cardio based HIIT program to a

bodyweight circuit based program, and so on.

Just do something to evoke some change and you will see benefits from doing

so.

Now let’s move on and talk a little about when you should not be doing high

intensity interval training. There are certain times when it’s best left out, so

realizing when these are is essential to progress.


When Not To Do HIIT

You’re going to come across a few times during your training when you would

be better off leaving HIIT out of the picture. While it is an incredibly

beneficial form of exercise, in some cases, it will do more harm than good.

Let’s have a look at when you should avoid doing HIIT so that you can make

sure you’re approaching your program properly.

During Sickness

The first point when you should back off HIIT is when you are suffering from

sickness. Whether it’s the common cold and flu or some other virus, keep in

mind that exercising with intensity during this time will do more harm than

good.

While you often can still keep up with a light workout, anything with some

serious intensity should be avoided at all costs.

During Injury

Next, if you’re suffering from a nagging injury or one that happened suddenly

and is producing sheer pain, also think twice about doing HIIT. While you

may fear that stopping it will reduce the fat loss results you see, nothing will

take you out faster than if you continue on.

That nagging injury could turn into a full blown one that would keep you

sidelined for weeks at a time. Back off and allow your body the time it needs

to rest and heal up again. Only then should you begin to work with higher

intensity again.


When Experiencing Joint Issues

If you’re experiencing joint issues, that’s yet another time when you may

want to consider backing off your HIIT. Joint issues can get to be quite

serious and if you don’t give them the time off that they need to rest and

recover, you’re going to be asking for more pain down the road.

Especially if it’s knee or back pain, often this pain won’t get better unless you

do take some time off, so start making that a priority. Take a few weeks off

and then reassess where you are and go from there.

After 6 Weeks Into The Program

Finally, the last time when it would be a wise move to back off from your HIIT

and take a break is after you’ve been doing six weeks of consecutive training.

With any workout program that you’ve been doing for an extended period of

time, there will come a point where the body will begin to get overworked and

will just need that extended time off.

While making sure that you get enough rest days on a week to week basis

can do a lot to prevent overtraining from setting in, eventually this won’t cut

it.

You need a full week off to do nothing but very low intensity exercise that is

more leisure based than anything.

This usually happens about once every six to eight weeks. After doing

intense training for this amount of time, reduce the intensity before you move

onwards.


So there you have a few of the main times when HIIT is not a smart move to

add into your protocol. Always be assessing your current situation so that

you can really get a firm feeling for yourself over whether or not it’s a smart

move to continue on with the training.

Remember, often you may believe that you’re going to lose fitness and gain

body fat if you take some time away from it, but the truth of the matter is

that continuing on when you shouldn’t may set you back even further

because then not only will you not be working at the full capacity you

normally would, but you’ll also be increasing the chances of injury and

making it that much less likely you’re able to carry on again in the future.

Being sidelined for two months time while you recover from a major injury

will definitely set you back, so this needs to be avoided.

So now that you know when not to do HIIT, let’s talk about some important

factors to remember about fluids and nutrition. If you want to see good

results, you need to take care of this as well.

Nutrition And Hydration During HIIT

Getting a good nutrition and hydration system in order to begin your HIIT

training with is the next vital element to have in place.

First let’s talk about nutrition. Even if your goal is fat loss, you still do need

to be fueling your body properly at this time because what you put into your

body now is going to significantly influence the performance you put forth

during the HIIT session as well as how quickly you recover.

Plus, if you don’t fuel your body properly, you could be at a much higher risk

of suffering from lean muscle mass loss, which would only make it that much


harder to maintain your weight over the long haul. Since your lean muscle

mass is essentially what strokes your ‘metabolic engine’ so to speak, you

need to be making sure it stays intact.

For best results at this time, you should be aiming to take in a lean source of

protein as well as a good source of carbs both before and after the session is

completed.

You’re going to treat your HIIT workouts much the same as you would treat a

weight lifting workout since both are forms of anaerobic, high intensity

exercise.

You don’t want to be eating very large meals before the session as this will

just lead to cramps and discomfort, but a light meal of around 200-300

calories should be perfect.

If it’s a liquid shake that you’re using, taking it 20 minutes or so before you

do the session will be ideal, whereas if you plan to have whole foods, aim to

eat about 45-60 minutes before you start the workout.

Immediately after you want to proceed to have your post-workout meal or

shake so that you can quickly replenish the muscle stores when they’re most

susceptible to taking up the nutrients.

Keep in mind that dietary fat is to be excluded from the diet in both of these

instances as that will just slow down the process of digestion, which is not

what you want during this time period.

Most people do find that protein shakes work great since they are quickly

digested and will get into the muscle cells quickly, but if you’d prefer solid

food, that can work as well.


When it comes to hydration, that’s yet another factor you need to give some

very clear thought to. Hydration is going to help ensure that you maintain

higher energy levels and that you are also able to make a fast recovery.

Those who aren’t adequately hydrated will also notice that they aren’t as

energetic during their workouts as hydration is one major thing that does

tend to influence your energy levels.

For almost all people doing HIIT, water will work fine for hydration purposes.

There’s no need to utilize a sports drink or any other electrolyte containing

beverage since the sessions are simply not lasting for that long of a time

period.

Try and drink at least 10 oz of water before the session and then another 10

oz of fluid immediately after. If you’re exercising in a very hot climate, you

may need even more liquid to replace what you sweat out, so be aware of

this and hydrate accordingly.

After the initial post-workout meal is complete, make sure that you follow this

up with another very sound meal a short while later as well. This will keep

the good nutrients coming to your body and make sure that you stay well

nourished for the rest of the day, encouraging your performance during the

next session that you do.

Remember that diet and exercise will always go hand-in-hand when it comes

to the results you seek so never place one ahead of the other. Both need to

be considered for optimal progress.

Now let’s move on and talk about how to integrate your HIIT into your get

lean workouts.


How To Add HIIT To Your GL Workouts

It’s important that when starting into your HIIT sessions, you don’t begin to

forgo the normal get lean workouts that you already have in place. These are

still going to be essential for getting you the best results possible and

optimizing your metabolism and muscle tone.

Since the HIIT sessions are going to be done at that higher intensity level,

they are going to take more energy out of you, so being sure to

accommodate to this will be important.

The ideal set-up is to alternate the days that you’re doing your HIIT along

with your Get Lean Workouts. Keep in mind that you still do need to have at

least one full day off each week as well. This will keep you mentally fresh and

ready to face the next week head on.

At the beginning you may only add one session of HIIT per week to your

program and as time progresses onwards, add another session or two into the

mix.

Just be sure that you are always monitoring how well you’re recovering after

each session that you perform. As the days pass by, if at any point you notice

that you aren’t seeing good recovery, back off your training slightly, allowing

for one additional day of rest. That would clearly indicate that what you’re

doing is just a little too much for your body to handle and if you continue to

go at that pace, you’re going to be suffering from overtraining down the road.

Now let’s finish up the report with a few of the most important questions that

people will ask about HIIT.


Frequently Asked Questions

As you get going with your HIIT, there is no doubt that some questions are

going to arise that you’ll become curious about. Remember that often there

is no black and white answer and in many cases it may depend on your

individual situation.

Most of the time there are general guidelines to follow.

Let’s take a quick peek at a few of the most common questions that are

frequently asked.

What Is The Best Time Of Day To Do HIIT?

Generally speaking, the best time of day to perform HIIT is when you’ll

actually complete it. Remember that getting it done is the most important

thing that is going to guarantee your success so this needs to be what you’re

focused on.

If you hate doing exercise in the morning, don’t force yourself up to do it.

Perform it later on in the day when you are more energized and ready to

complete the workout.

Just take caution about performing it very late at night as most people will

find that exercise this intense may interfere with their ability to get some

sleep.


Do I Need To Perform HIIT On An Empty Stomach?

In terms of performing HIIT on an empty stomach, you’re best off not doing

this. Remember that the body is going to require glucose to be present in its

system in order to complete the intense muscle contractions required to carry

this workout out and without food, that glucose just won’t be there.

While you can try and perform it on an empty stomach and some people can,

realize that your intensity will likely be lower and you are going to be at a

higher risk of lean muscle mass loss as well.

Since the body has to get glucose from somewhere, if there isn’t any present

in the blood, it’s going to turn to your lean muscle mass as a source.

Can I Combine HIIT With My Workout? And If So, When Should It Be

Done?

It’s often asked whether you can combine your HIIT session with your normal

workout session. The answer to this is that you can, however it’s not

preferable.

If you can separate them, even into two sessions spread out throughout the

day, that will be better than performing them both in just a single session.

Doing them both in a single session does mean that your performance on one

activity will likely suffer, so be aware of that fact.

If you are going to do both your regular workout and your HIIT in the same

session, generally you’ll want to do the HIIT second.


This will give you the most energy for intense weight lifting, which is when

you really need to be at your best for both performance as well as to prevent

injuries from developing.

Can I Do Both Moderate Intensity Cardio And HIIT?

Finally, the last question that some people may wonder is whether you can

combine both steady state and HIIT into a program.

The answer here again is that you can and in some cases, it may be the best

option for you.

If you’re someone who doesn’t have the recovery system to recover from two

to three HIIT sessions per week along with your strength workouts but one

session of HIIT is not enough to evoke the fat loss results that you’re after,

then adding another session or two of moderate intensity cardio can be the

thing to get you progressing along.

Just remember to keep the division line between HIIT and moderate cardio.

Don’t try and crank the intensity up on your moderate cardio so that it begins

looking more like a HIIT session or you’re going to be in for some trouble

down the road. Moderate intensity cardio sessions are designed to be more

rest focused so keep them that way. Don’t push yourself too hard or you’ll

negate the benefits of having them in there.


Conclusion

So there you have everything that you need to know about HIIT. It really is

one of the most effective forms of exercise that you could be doing provided

you do it right and incorporate it into your routine wisely.

Remember that there are so many different ways that you can be doing HIIT,

so don’t think that it’s a one size fits all approach. Experiment with different

modes, different interval lengths, and so on until you find out what works

perfectly for you.

That’s when you’ll easily be able to stick to the program because you enjoy it

and also see the most optimal results as well.

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© Get Lean Program Belinda Benn 2012 - 1cardio training, it won’t be fat mass that you’re losing but lean muscle tissue. With HIIT, as you lose the fat, you’ll also begin to