What is High Intensity Training and What Makes It So Great?

High intensity training is one of the best ways for you to reach your goals because of its efficiency, cardiovascular benefits, and physical and mental challenge.

High intensity simply refers to a workout that pushes your body to the limit.

Cardiovascular High Intensity Training

High intensity cardio is great for burning calories quickly. With high intensity cardio, there is no question that you will be getting an intense exercise session in.

Sprinting

• Running extremely hard for a set amount of time. This can be done on a treadmill, sidewalk, road, or running track.

Rowing

• An Olympic sport, but if you do not have a boat or a large body of water, you can find machines at your gym to use for this exercise.

Bicycling

• You can either use stationary biking or ride an actual bicycle, depending on your tastes and how fashionable your biking clothes are.

When you engage in high intensity training, your heart rate stays elevated for the hours after you work out. This means that you burn more calories even at a resting rate.

High Intensity Strength Training

High intensity strength training is similar to cardiovascular training, except it involves lifting heavy stuff.

One of the hallmarks of high intensity strength training is lifting until failure. In short, this means that you lift weight until you are unable to do any more reps with proper form.

One of the most important issues to consider when engaging in high intensity strength training is rest. You must make sure that you are taking enough time between workouts so that your muscles can recover: otherwise you run the risk of overstressing your body.

The Benefits Of High Intensity Training

Efficiency

• In some cases, you can burn the same amount of calories or build the same amount of muscle with a workout that lasts just ten or fifteen minutes as you would in double or triple that amount of time doing a moderately paced exercise. High intensity training can be great for people that have limited time to work out.

Cardiovascular benefits

• High intensity training can improve the health of your heart as well as your endurance. The more you work out your heart and cardiovascular system, the better shape it will be in.

Metabolism boost

• Studies show that high intensity training will help boost your metabolism all day. Dr. Michael Bracko reports that high intensity cardiovascular training will help you elevate the amount of calories that you burn for 1.5 to 24 hours after you exercise.

Challenge

• Even though you won’t be working out as often or for as long as people that do moderate or low-intensity workouts, you will be able to take pride in the fact that you kicked your own butt for a certain period of time.

Variety

• Beyond the basic forms of cardio like running, bicycling, and swimming, you can apply it to hybrid cardiovascular workouts like jump squats or burpees. On the strength training side, you can apply the high intensity philosophy to almost any lift, as long as you have proper form and do not use more weight than you can handle.

Precautions With High Intensity Training

If you have a medical condition, especially one involving the cardiovascular or muscular system, talk to your doctor before you start on a high intensity training routine.

It will take time, sweat, and dedication, but if you find or create a high intensity training program that is right for you and stick to it, you can unlock your ideal physique sooner than you might think.

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