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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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wayne-jan17
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This is what I do. I help people get results and use my experience and the experience of thousands of teamRIPPED members to do it. I have been there and done it! My help costs you $0... NOTHING! So try me. Send me and email or message me on Facebook. I am here to help! All you have to do is sign up below and you will be part of teamRIPPED!

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