Benefits of Interval Training
Research continues to show that High Intensity Interval Training blows the socks off steady state cardio for burning fat, burning calories, revving up the metabolism, and promoting the release of human growth hormone which will help you get that lean, athletic, muscular look you want. People that spend all day running on a treadmill may get smaller and lose weight, but they don’t end up looking like a world class sprinter, do they? They look thinned out but still soft. World class sprinters look like Shaun T — muscular, fit, and athletic, with muscles everywhere. It’s because Shaun T trains like a sprinter! He uses high intensity interval training (HIIT) rather than steady state cardio.
The steady state, low-moderate rate cardio is such a common way of training in our culture that people still get confused about heart rate zones. I get lots of questions about HR zones, especially since doing a workout like Insanity or Turbo Fire quickly puts you right past any “zone” you were supposed to be in LOL!
When you buy a heart rate monitor, it will have information about training “zones”, and the fat burning zone is usually 60%-80% of maximum heart rate. So then a person reading this will think, “Uh oh, my heart rate goes way above the fat burning zone when doing Turbo Fire, Insanity, or Plyo X. Should I lessen my intensity to stay in the fat burning zone??”
My answer is NO WAY!! The point of Plyo X and Insanity (and Turbo Fire, and Interval X, etc.) is to get you above the fat burning zone and into the amazing new world of HIGH INTENSITY INTERVAL TRAINING (or HIIT).
Why do you want to be in HIIT world instead of steady state fat burning world? Simple! Let me explain:
The traditional approach to cardio training, and the assumed best way to shed body fat, has always been to do steady-state, moderate intensity cardio “in the fat burning zone”. It has long been believed that you will start burning fatty acids for energy after about 30 minutes of exercise, so you would of course want to go longer than 30 minutes, and stay in the fat burning zone to shed body fat. This type of training can take many forms, but is usually something like jogging, cycling, or eliptical at a steady rate.
Recently, however, there have been many breakthroughs in the science behind fat burning and athletic performance. And all signs point to HIIT as the far superior way to train. Studies show that a shorter session of HIIT will still burn the same amount of calories (even though you are working much harder and well above the “fat burning” heart rate zone) … but here’s the real kicker … the physiological effects of that HIIT session will actually raise your resting metabolic rate for as much as 24 hours following the workout! That’s the key! While you may burn a lot of calories jogging on a treadmill, within minutes of getting off the treadmill, your metabolic rate normalizes. Not with HIIT! You get your body so revved up that it stays revved up for hours and hours. And you will blaze through body fat! That’s the science behind Insanity, turbo fire, and P90X Plus workouts. And it really works!
And what’s more, the science now shows that not only is HIIT better for fat burning, it’s also better at improving athletic performance. So if you want to jump higher, run faster, and stay young longer, HIIT will help you do that.
HIIT can take the form of running (but instead of jogging, you would run sprint intervals with very little rest in between), cycling (all-out speed intervals with very little rest in between), and of course HIIT can happen right in your living room (anyone who has done an Insanity or Turbo Fire workout knows exactly how!).
So in conclusion, take the handy dandy heart rate “zone” chart, toss it in the trash, and GO ALL OUT!! It will transform you, shred the fat, and make you an elite athlete all at once! Cherish those short breaks to get your breath back, and then put that heart rate through the roof again! Be like Shaun T!
Read more about Insanity’s HIIT (which Shaun T calls Max Interval Training) HERE.
Read more about Turbo Fire’s HIIT HERE.
Keep bringing it! ALL OUT!!!!
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Thanks Coach, excellent article on HIIT!.
I beat my record of peak HR yesterday, I got up to 192! 45 consecutive double time jump knee tucks does it every time! LOL
Bring it!!!!!!!
Hey coach, I was looking over Josh Spencers sight, and he said that sometime he will design workout plans without cardio workouts throughout the week because it works better for him. How long do you think someone could do a workout plan with lift days only and yoga to add breaks?
E.X.
mond – legs and back
tuesday – chest shoulders tris
wednesday – yoga x
thursday – just arms, diamond delts
friday – plyo legs
saturday – chest and back
or some other combination following the 48 hour rule, because the workouts are so fast passed that you maintain a high heart rate throughout the workout correct?
Lou-
Your an animal. Lol!! Nice!
Hey Chris, you can definitely do that (your order of workouts doesn’t violate the 48 hour rule). Although Plyo Legs IS a cardio workout. You just have to work a balance between lifting and cardio to help you meet your goals. The schedule you have would be great for bulking up. You will have a drop off in your cardio conditioning, but you’ll be able to add more mass.
Coach,
What do you know about Tabata intervals? Seems too good to be true. Its the 20 seconds max effort, 10 seconds rest. Repeat for 8 intervals total. Entire workout is around 4 minutes.
I Am in my second month of the perfect storm and I am adding on some bulk which is great that’s part of my goal but my cardio has gone way down hill I did interval x this morning and got through the workout well but not as good as I would had before with more cardio in my regiment should I add more cardio coach Wayne so I am not having such a hard time?
Hey Casey, I’ve never tried that. A whole workout in 4 minutes? That can’t do much for you LOL! I have tried the Sprint 8 / Peak 8 theory. In it, you do 30 seconds at max effort, then rest 1:30 to recover. I thought it was okay but I noticed my overall cardio conditioning drop compared to doing HIIT like Insanity or Asylum. I lost endurance in the couple weeks I did only the Sprint 8 technique. So I went back to the HIIT workouts.
Sweet! cauuuuse thats what I’ve been doing for two weeks lol however I’m doing the 50/30/20 1900 calorie diet (well I guess 1700 plus recovery drink)
Still feeling alright during the workouts, no energy during the day really though.
Hey James, like I just answered Chris a couple comments above this, you just have to work a balance between lifting and cardio to help you meet your goals. Schedules with more lifting will help you gain mass but you’ll lose some cardio conditioning. Schedules with more cardio will help your conditioning but will make it very hard to build mass. Pick a schedule that suits your goals.
You posted this on the perfect day. I went and did some HIIT today. I did some sprints because I don’t have the money to buy another program since X2 come out in a month.
Thanks Coach great article, I have been a big fan of HIIT training and really enjoy doing the insanity workouts!!! This just gives me more of a reason to them on a normal schedule!
Great Information Coach. I have been researching this heavily since completing Insanity. I was worried that I pushed to hard hahaha, then I was like WHAT IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE. You can never push to hard.
Justin,
X2 is going to ROCK OUT…..ITS IN BLU RAY AAGHGHAGHAGHAGHAGH. Iam so excited I can barely wait.
Hey coach i started last week on doing insanity max cardio and max plyo intervals on my cardio days. I have been doing P90X for about a year now and have never had any problems finishing any workout. As I have started doing the insanity last week I get about 30 minutes into the workout and I start having side pain that makes me have to stop and rest until it goes away which takes about two to three minutes. I was wondering if you could help me out with what is causing this and if you knew anything that would help keep from happening
Hey Nick! Sounds like you are getting typical side cramps from the intense cardio. Insanity cardio is much more challenging than P90X cardio, and it will take you a while to get used to it. As you do, the side cramping will go away. Keep bringing it!
First of let just say thanks for this, very timley.Insanity is truly what it calls itself…INSANE-ITY! Intence or what But man does it work. I was doing P90X/Insanity hybrid but put it on hold to do the P90X challange with Lance L. and the team to get ready for P90X2. But it really is a Panty kicker so to speak,LOL
And Nick Coach is right you must really be givener to get the cramps, I would also get them from time to time when i really ingaged my abs i really had to think about it, and relax for a few seconds and giver again and I would be fine. Don’t give up keep bring it,Your gettting strong.
Hey nick. Cramps are also caused by dehydration during a work out. Try drinking more water before your workout and during.
Wayne,
I noticed a little while back that P90X cardio is HIIT. Given this scenario:
Knowing I will be pushing the clock, on a given day, get up and do 15 minutes of HIIT. Come home from work and do 20-30 minutes of HIIT (Plyo moves)
How do you feel that this will scenario will effect P90X progress?
Hey Greg, that should be fine to split up the cardio workouts into part morning and part evening. You’ll still be getting the calorie burn and the increased HR (and you’ll be getting it twice per day which should keep your metabolism up more as a bonus). Go for it!
Great Read…Thanks, within two weeks of adding Asylum to my workouts things started changing in a positve way, and for further proof that HIIT is effective at burning body fat, just look a college and NBA basketball players, they are lean, versus NFL players who are often bulky, which they need to be, but for me carrying on day to day life, I like the lean and fit look.. Plain and Simple, The Hybrid Programs combining Tony H. and Shaun T. are just Beast!!! can’t wait to add X2 to the mix!!
Hey coach quick question, I have been working out for close to 11 months now. Lost over 90 lbs and am now at 145 lbs with about 12 % body fat. I cannot imagine going lower then 140 but I want to lose the last 3-4% body fat I have. I am in the last week of asylum/insanity hybrid, then doing asylum/p90x hybrid after that. My question is would you recommend me staying at my 2000 or so calorie diet (staying with asylum get shredded diet to a tee) or upping my calories a bit to lose the last bit of fat because I am really not sure what to do. I want to lose that last bit of belly fat because everything else appears muscular but I also really don’t want to go under 140 lbs lol.
Way to go LJ. You are crushing it! I am very excited to see you lose that last bit of body fat. What I would recommend is exactly what you are doing — adding resistance training. The P90X will give your muscles the resistance training they need to grow (whereas Insanity and Asylum didn’t really give you much of that, but they helped you drop a lot of body fat).
I’d stick to a range on calories of 2000-2400, but don’t go over 2400 so that you will drop that last bit of body fat. You’ll definitely get there with the next hybrid!
God I hope so lol. 2 rounds of p90, 2 rounds of insanity, asylum, asylum/insanity hybrid… its been a busy year. I just wanna lose that last bit of body so I can just gain like 10-15 lbs of muscle and just eat to maintain which is the ultimate goal. Also I am glad I don’t have to decrease calories and lose more weight lol. Appreciate the quick answer Wayne, thank you
Oh 1 more thing and I apologize for asking here but I am on through my phone and it would take forever to look for “my supplements” to post this. I take r&r with 2 kre alk right after working out in the morning, my 2nd,3rd,and 4th meal I take 1 fish oil pill, 30 minutes before my 5th meal I take my 2nd dose of kre-alk and during my 5th meal I take my source naturals multi, are these ok times to take these? Especially for the 2nd dose of kre alk and multi?
Sure LJ, that’s perfect.
I’ve actually found that doing p90x lifting in a HIIT fashion has been very useful as well. I do the body movement moves resisted (resistance band pushups, weighted tricep dips, extra tension on wall sits etc) and as soon as I reach failure, I hit next on the dvd player and move on to the next move. It keeps the reps lower and the wait times shorter. Also helps you finish in less time :)
You are nuts Drew! LOL! (in a good way of course!). I can’t imagine going FASTER on the lift workouts!
Coach Wayne – can I add HIIT swimming (freestyle)as a “doubles” alternative to Phase II and III of P90X on the lift days (Chest/Back, Arms/Shoulders, Legs/Back etc)? 30 – 45 mins? Would I also then want to increase my daily calories to offset these additional workouts? I’m running about a 1,000 calorie deficit now.
Hey Tom, you can definitely add some swimming HIIT. That would be just fine. But yes, you’ll probably find that you need an increase in calories to offset the extra deficit that will create. Start by bumping up 400 cals and see how you feel.
COACH! first gameday today!!! burned 1045 calories! toooooooo much fun! I could only do 25 bat swings at the end and could hardly stretch my arms over head for the cool down! haha I feel great though! My breathes throughout the day feel more full and I feel like I’m a well oiled machine 24/7! Thanks for supporting me through my asylum journey so far!
I just started Insanity and go through week 1 without skipping a workout. I need some tips tho, how do you stay off unhealthy calories say chips or beer?. See, I’m a college student and I do fine on the weekdays, but when the weekend comes, oh boy so much trouble.
Hey Victor, read my article “to cheat or not” and then read “alcohol”. Those articles will spell out for you just how much you are hurting your results if you don’t stick to the plan. Keep bringing it!
Great articles….I’m kind of sad I didn’t hear about your website before. This is just what I needed! See I’ve been working out these passed 10 weeks at the gym, and was eating like 75% healthy stuff…and dropped 15lbs, but it’s not enough, just like the site, I want to be ripped. And thnks to you, I’ve a commitment now. Looking forward to be part of this team! Let insanity begin.
Hey coach I had a question. I just finished p90x and I’m going to start insanity tomorow. Do u think since I’m not going to be doing weight training in insanity do u think my muscle I gained in p90x would burn off?
Hey Abraham, when you do an all-cardio program like Insanity, you can lose some muscle. That’s why I prefer a hybrid with 2-3 lift days. You can consider doing a hybrid with P90X and Insanity, like I have listed in my “workout zone” to ensure that you keep getting stronger while ramping up the cardio intensity.
Instead of doing the cardio workouts everyday I have track practice. I also do metabolic conditioning a few days a week. I also ride my bike about 50 miles or more a week. Do you think it is ok to skip the cardio workouts in p90x/insanity an just stick with what I am doing?
Thanks coach
Yes Spencer, that’s fine to use your current cardio schedule as the cardio portion of your workout plan.
Coach
Im Three weeks away from finishing my first round of P90X. I was wondering if I should do 12 weeks of P90X next or buy Insanity? Thanks, Todd
Hey Todd, I’d recommend a P90X / Insanity hybrid for your next round. Check it out in my “hybrid” tab above.
Thanks Coach