HIIT FOR MY HOMIES

Some days I can hang in the gym for hours and be the ultimate gym rat. I would bring a sleeping bag, my teddy bear, an iPad and a cooler of snacks and would willingly pay rent to make the free weight section my boudoir. Perhaps it has something to do with all the mirrors...?  But I digress...

This is not the case for all. I deal with wonderful people everyday who either don't have the time to spend hours in the gym or rocking cardio sessions for indeterminate amounts of time in order to hit their fitness goals. There are also the ones who battle self-diagnosed ADHD and just can't maintain the focus, or perhaps their ipod died. Can't do a workout without my Mariah. The early days, of course. 

So like anything in life, there is an answer to these woes, an alternative...  

Juliane's Rx =  HIIT baby, HIIT!   

HIIT stands for High Intensity Interval Training.  And intense is RIGHT! It's short segments of max output coupled with shorter periods of rest. Here are some of the benefits of kicking your own ass with this training method...

1. It's quick and dirty!  This is the ideal workout for the busy bees of the world. You can achieve more progress in an itty bitty 15 minutes of HIIT (2-3x a week) than someone who jogs on a treadmill for an hour.  If Beyonce has time to shape her booty, I think we all have an extra 15 measly minutes somewhere in our back pocket.

2. You burn more FAT!!  Isn't that what we all want?  Personally, I have no sentimental attachments to my excess flub. It's time to make that spare tire around your waist smaller and smaller until it's long gone. Next thing you know, you'll have your neighbors asking to wash clothes on your washboard abs!  Can't touch this! 

3. No equipment needed.  That's one of the ultimate excuses for people who are putting off getting fit.  That won't fly here, sweet cheeks.  Sprints, high knees, squats, push-ups... it's the possibilities are endless. Just find an exercise that pushes that heart and GIVER'

4. It increases your metabolism.  HIIT workouts stimulates the production of HGH (human growth hormone) by up to 450% during your 24 hr post-workout time.  HGH not only increases your caloric burn, but also slows down the aging process. You could ALMOST get away with wearing that princess dress and slugging back Shirley Temples out of a sippy cup.  Almost. 

5. It's the tits for your ticker. These days everyone should be doing whatever they can do protect their heart health.  Cherrios, albeit delicious, are not your only option! So get this... most of us are not at all used to pushing ourselves into our anaerobic zone (You know, the zone where you are nicely doubled over, hands on the knees and trying not to hurl... sigh, memories). However, with HIIT training, you will produce intense results. I can back this up... A 2006 study in the Journal of Physiology found that after 8 weeks of HIIT workouts, their subjects could cycle twice as long as they were initially able to before the 8 week HIIT study. Also, they were able to maintain the same pace.  If you distance athletes don't stick this in their training arsenal, then that's on you!

 It's quite amazing what can be accomplished in such a short amount of time.

So in closing, it's time for me to shut the laptop, make like Beyonce, and find some stairs to play on!