High-intensity interval training exercises burn a significant amount of calories and fat, especially after the interval session. These intense bouts of exercise require rapid and forceful contractions of most of the muscles of your body, toning your muscles and incinerating your stored body fat. Such exercises are quite intense and last no longer than 30 minutes per session. Do a 10-minute warm-up before your interval to prepare your body for the more difficult exercise to come.
Elliptical Machine Exercise
Elliptical machine intervals enable you to get an effective workout without much impact on your joints. Your feet remain in contact with the pedals while your arms push and pull the movable elliptical bars. Set the resistance to a level four or an easy intensity and pedal for 2.5 minutes. Then, increase the resistance to a very hard intensity or a level 12 and pedal as fast as you can for 30 seconds. Continue to alternate between a 2.5-minute easy intensity and a 30-second very hard pedal for 20 minutes.
Hill Sprint
Sprinting up a hill requires strong leg movement, a tight contraction of your core and vigorous pumping of your upper body. This is an effective exercise to target your glutes as they must contract to extend your hips, propelling you up the incline. Use a digital timer or watch to time your sprints. The hill must be short enough so that you can reach the top within 20 to 30 seconds. Pick a point on the hill, such as a mailbox or tree as your finish line. Run up the hill, crossing your finish line faster than a jog, but slower than a sprint; walk back down. Then, run up the hill slightly faster, but not at an "all out" pace; walk back down. Next, sprint up the hill as fast as you can and walk back down. Repeat the hill sprints for a total of 25 minutes.
Treadmill Flat Sprint
Treadmills are beneficial for interval exercises because you can easily view and change your speed, incline and distance. Contract your abdominal muscles for every sprint to effectively engage your obliques. Your obliques work hard to stabilize your trunk as you are running at exceptionally high speeds, toning your obliques faster than bicycle crunches. Select the manual option on your treadmill for this high-intensity interval exercise and keep your incline at 1 percent. First, run fast for 30 seconds and walk for 1 minute, 30 seconds; walk slow enough to catch your breath and be ready for the next sprint. Then, run slightly faster for 30 seconds and walk for 1 minute, 30 seconds. Next, sprint for 30 seconds and run for 1 minute 30 seconds. Continue the sprint and walk intervals, increasing your sprint speed by .1 to .2 miles per hour for every subsequent sprint. Do this for 20 to 30 minutes.
References
- "Strength and Conditioning Journal"; High-Intensity Interval Training: Applications for General Fitness Training; Brad Schoenfeld and Jay Dawes; December 2009
- "Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning"; Thomas R. Baechle and Roger W. Earle; 2000
- "Personal Trainer Manual"; American Council on Exercise; 1997
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