Want a workout that will actually burn body fat and lean you out? Then you absolutely must incorporate afterburn training, or High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT), into your program.

High Intensity Interval Training is a very particular way of performing aerobic exercise that will force your body into releasing human growth hormone (HGH). HGH is wonderful stuff – it’s your body’s natural fat burning hormone.

Bet’cha didn’t know you had that in you, huh?
BUT…(of course you knew there was a catch, right?) as we get older, HGH declines, which is why it is such a pain in the neck to lose weight as we age. Add to that a slower metabolic rate and you have, well, a perfect storm for increased fat.
Increase this “HGH wonderfulness” again and we can burn fat like we did when we were young!
HGH has been proven to destroy fat, which is what we want in an aerobic workout. It is even better if you can do your aerobic intervals on an empty stomach. So shoot for a morning workout or make sure you haven’t had anything to eat for about 3 hours. This will help your body release those lovely HGH hormones. If you really want to attack your body fat, don’t eat for an hour after performing aerobic intervals to really maximize fat burning benefits.
Below I have included an example of a HIIT workout that can be done on a treadmill, or any cardio machine of your choice. Don’t feel as though you must RUN/JOG to reap the benefits of this type of workout. Many of you cannot run/jog due to injuries and such, and that is perfectly fine. Just jump on the elliptical machine or stationary bike. You can even use one of the cycling class spinning bicycles – those are my personal fave for doing aerobic intervals!
1. Warm-up for 5 minutes at a medium pace
2. After 5 minutes, speed up to a medium/high pace for one minute
3. After one minute, slow down to your original medium pace
4. After one minute of medium, speed up to your previous medium/high pace, but this time add .5 to the speed (so if you first did 6.0…now you are going to set it at 6.5)
5. After one minute, you are going to go back to your original medium pace for one minute.
6. Alternate every minute between medium and high pace for 20 minutes… Keep your medium pace the same, but keep increasing your high pace by .5 until you cannot go any harder for one minute.

 

Note: Don’t be surprised if you get really red in the face while performing these aerobic intervals. Do not be embarrassed by this, this is exactly what you want. It is actually an indication that you are doing the exercise correctly and that your body heat is rising. This thermogenic effect is what is going to annihilate that stubborn body fat and keep your metabolic rate high even after you have finished working out. Thus the term “afterburn training”.
**After you are finished with your intervals, you can add a boost to your fat burning by tacking on an extra 15-20 minutes of steady state cardio.
Note: This would be considered an advanced aerobic workout program. Make sure you are in decent health before working out at this intensity level.

Filed under: Fat Loss

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