Tone It Up Tuesday!

Here's Day 2 of my fitness posts for this week! Today's workout is another HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training - explained below) treadmill workout followed by a serious leg workout.

What is HIIT?

HIIT stands for high intensity interval training. The basic premise behind HIIT is that you work really hard for a short burst and then have an active recovery period. Generally speaking, you may sprint for 30 seconds and then jog or walk for 1 minute. You would repeat this workout routine numerous times for the best effect.

The Benefits of HIIT

A HIIT workout offers myriad benefits. First, HIIT provides a great workout for your legs. If you perform HIIT a few times per week, you probably don’t even need to do strength training for your legs, unless you have a desire for bigger legs. More importantly, HIIT really ramps up fat burning. The intense intervals allow for the release of fatty acids into the bloodstream. Additionally, HIIT results in increased HGH levels. HGH is a hormone that burns fat while preserving muscle. Finally, and possibly most importantly, HIIT results in EPOC, an after-burn effect which causes you to burn calories for hours after your workout is completed.

Here's how it goes:

5 minute warm-up at 5.0

1 minute 8.0

2 minutes 5.5

1 minute 8.0

2 minutes 5.5

And so on....

Do this for 35 minutes

Followed it up by 4 sets of 25 squats

And 100 alternating lunges (10 on each side)

My legs were seriously screaming by the end. Definitely get a good stretch session in and ice if you feel you need it. Stay tuned for tomorrow's workout.. it's a new favorite! :)

ENJOY!!

xo