If You Want to Learn About Interval Training Read On!
By: Nick Jarvis
Submitted: 2008-06-26 21:07:41 | Word Count: 561
The way for you to actually get fit, lose those inches and be healthier and more content with your body is to make losing fat and gaining muscle a duel process.. To increase metabolism and help burn more calories, it is best to gain more muscle. If you lose fat it will be effortless for you to exercise and gain muscle. You will reach both goals if you exercise properly. Here is a two part plan that will help you get the highest results.
1. Burn Fat
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By taking part in interval training you can burn fat off in very little time! Short and high intensity workouts burn more calories than in a long slower workout as cited in a study done by the American College of Sports Medicine. Interval training is a workout that focuses on high intensity. It combines small cardio workouts with periods of slower exercises. Maximizing calorie and fat burning ability will give you a full body workout.
The body will start to burn fat when doing this sort of exercise aimed at the aerobic and anaerobic systems. The anaerobic system, which uses energy stored in the muscles is started by doing fast aerobic exercises. By having slower workouts, the aerobic system will use oxygen to transform the body s stored carbohydrates into energy. The maximum amount of calories is burned when switching of systems, and it also builds muscle.
What is the first step to interval training? First walk in place to get your muscles warmed up and then do some stretching to loosen your muscles. Once this is accomplished you may move on to the first slow interval for two minutes. Calisthenics are excellent slow intervals exercises; you can do sit ups, squats, or crunches or a combination of all three. 100 110 beats per minute is the ideal heart rate. Be sure to slow your exercises even more when your heart rate is faster.
You may begin the fast interval after the two minutes expire. This fast interval should be 2 minutes in length and involve a high intensity aerobic exercise, such as jumping rope or running on a treadmill.
Alternate between these fast and slow 2 minute intervals for half an hour up to an hour for fastest results.
2. Gain More Muscle
Although interval training may help you put on some muscle, to really bulk up in the shortest amount of time, you ll want to create a workout routine that incorporates both interval training and weightlifting. Doing this works best when doing interval training one day and then switching to weightlifting the following day. You will still be burning calories and building other muscles by giving your body and weight lifting muscles a day to rest.
By doing all exercises slowly, you will maximize the usage of each muscle on your day of weightlifting. A variety of lifts that work the inner and outer thighs, triceps and biceps, delts, gluts, pecs, etc. is also important.
Your abs can be worked on both days since they do not require rest, as they are more flexible. It is best to include crunches in sit ups in your workouts during both days.
Following this two step strategy, you will have better results because you will burn fat and build muscle at the same time. To burn calories there is no need to wait until your body is trim and muscular.
