Interval Training for the Ultimate Burn in Less Time

Exercising at least four to five days a week can be challenging. Heck, it’s a lot to ask some of us with busy, hectic lives and families to look after to squeeze in even a few forty five minute workout sessions a week, let alone one hour training sessions several times a week.

Of course, working out longer is ideal since the heart rate needs to be up at least twenty five minutes before we really go into overdrive in regards to calorie burning, but what if you could get the same, or even more, calorie burn in less time?

Turns out you can, but don’t think for a second that it’s going to be a cake walk, because although you can burn a lot more calories in a shorter time with interval, or some call it circuit training, you will definitely be sweating and you will definitely feel like you want to collapse at first! That being said, you also feel a huge sense of accomplishment after you get done with a training session that incorporates high impact cross, or interval training.

I’ve never felt stronger and more muscular than I have since I started incorporating interval training into my weekly workout regimen. Not only that, I feel like it has elevated my energy levels and made me a lot leaner, a lot faster than any other regime has, and I’ve tried quite a few things.

I’ve been working out in one way or another since I was fourteen years old and I’m now thirty four, so I’ve had twenty years of experience with various workout programs, and have found that circuit training is probably the most time efficient way to maximize your calorie burn as well as your muscle building potential.

With that being said, let’s talk about what circuit or interval training is. Interval training usually alternates working out either different body parts in a very rapid and intense way for several minutes, then rapidly changing gears and going to either another body part or another method of sculpting.

What I mean by method of sculpting is either aerobic activity or muscle work. Either way, you are basically keeping your metabolism elevated for the period of time you are working out, in a totally unique and new way every few minutes. This helps to create something called “muscle confusion” which puts more stress on the body, and therefore puts you into a higher calorie burning mode, which sticks with you for a while after you’re done with your routine.

It’s great for people who want to get an intense, real workout in, but don’t have that full hour to put the time in. You can get a great workout in about a half hour if you’re doing an intense circuit training program. What’s insane is that I sweat more and lose my breath more as well as get wobbly and shaky when I’m doing a half hour interval training routine than I do with a full hour of elliptical machine time and weight lifting at the gym.

It’s because it’s short, but powerful bursts of activity that really challenge your body and your muscle capacity, forcing you to use more energy and burn out those muscles, which basically tears them and starts building new muscles on top of them. My favorite way to get a good circuit training session is to do it on a DVD.

You can get some that are a half hour but that really kick your butt, and they don’t drain your time away, but they leave you feeling like you just got your butt whipped into shape really well. You can certainly try to do your own circuit training, but make sure you have all of your planned exercises written down, the duration of time you will be doing each of them, and at what intensity you want them to be, so that you are not inadvertently taking too much time in between circuits.

The key to successful interval training is to make sure you are not taking any long breaks in between circuits. This ensures the calorie burning potential stays high the whole time. An example of circuit training would be to do squats with arm rows using five pound or three pound weights for two minutes, then alternating this with jumping jacks or jumping on a bike real quick or an elliptical and doing it intensely for two minutes, then going right into some other muscle work like abdominals or maybe more weight work on your arms.

If you have been working out for a while and are just not getting the same results as you used to, it means your body has gotten accustomed to your regimen. Kicking it up a notch with interval or circuit training will definitely yield fast and noticeable results. Not only that, you’ll notice a fast increase in your muscle mass, strength, stamina and energy. Now, what could be better than that?

About the Author

Danna Schneider is the owner and primary editorial contributor for several fitness, diet and weight loss help websites. These include review sites such as Nutrex Lipo 6 Reviews and another devoted to fitness equipment reviews, workout DVD reviews and fitness tips and new workout ideas Fitness News and Exercise Equipment Reviews

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