Time to Hop on the Interval Train

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Hey, hey, party people!

I am here to chat about your new best friend when it comes to cardio.

No, seriously!

I know people think cardio is some grueling task, and yes, it certain can be, but this is something that will go by in a breeze and leave you feeling exhausted in the best way.

If you haven't heard of high intensity interval training, otherwise known as HIIT, you are missing out! Never fear, though. That's why I'm here to spread the good word ; )

High intensity interval training is exactly what it sounds like - you work at your maximum for a short amount of time, followed by recovery. HIIT has been my BFF for the last couple weeks on the days where I do not want to run or do cardio for longer than twenty minutes.

Yes, all you need is 15-20 minutes to complete a HIIT work out. Super short, sweet, and sweaty.

Before I chat about what my personal HIIT workouts look like, here's the benefits. That's most important. WHY the hell should I do this?

- Kickstarts your metabolism and burns tons of calories in a shorter amount of time when compared to calories burned during a long run

- Effective at burning fat

- Strengthens your lungs, heart, and legs (especially if you kick up the incline - oooh mama)

- Promotes weight loss, not muscle loss

- Time efficient: no need to set aside an hour of your day since you can get it done in 20 minutes or less!

- You can pretty much do it anywhere. Inside, outside, in your living room, whatever!

That moody morning gym light at 5:30am, pre-HIIT madness.

This is what I have been playing around for my intervals:

Warm up: 2 minutes

Easy run: 1 minute

SPRINT ALL OUT! 30 seconds
Walk to recover: 1 minute

Repeat for 15 or 20 minutes. You will work up a huge sweat, your heart will be pumping, and you will feel amazing after. Yes, it's hard, but start wherever is comfortable for you. If you feel it's better to have a longer warm up, do that. If you want more recovery time, do that. Hell, sometimes after sprinting my butt off I stand on the sides of the treadmill for a good twenty seconds before I even begin my walking recovery. It's all up to you!

You can also mix up your intervals with jumping jacks, skipping rope, burpees, mix in strength training moves. Lots of options to keep you sweating!

Note: I like to do my intervals after so I conserve my energy for strength training, but do what works for you. Sometimes we only have 20 minutes to get a workout in, and HIIT is perfect for that!

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Let me know in the comments what your favourite HIIT workout is, or if you are a lover of HIIT as well!