Exercise
What If You Don’t Have the Stamina for HIIT?
Warning: A non-numeric value encountered in /home/wealffco/public_html/wewt/wp-content/plugins/adsense-daemon/Adsense-Daemon.php on line 243
Warning: A non-numeric value encountered in /home/wealffco/public_html/wewt/wp-content/plugins/adsense-daemon/Adsense-Daemon.php on line 243
HIIT stands for high intensity interval training. This is akin to an umbrella term for training such as sprinting, fartlek, P90X workouts, Insanity workouts, Tabata protocol, jump rope workouts, etc.
Whatever the exercise may be, as long as you are doing them as fast as you can with minimum rest intervals, these are high intensity workouts and they burn a ton of calories that results in optimal fat loss. High intensity training is an extremely powerful tool for boosting your metabolic rate and skyrocketing your fat loss.
So, what makes HIIT so effective?
In the past and even till today, many people believe that in order to lose weight, they need to slave away on the treadmills for hours. This is not true. Long, slow cardio is not as beneficial to fat loss as short bursts of fast cardio.
If you jog in the park or on the treadmill for 45 minutes to an hour, you will burn calories during your training session. No one is denying that. However, once your training session ends, your calorie burning will quickly taper down and your system will be back to status quo.
However, with a hard 15 to 20 minute high intensity training session, you will not burn as many calories during the workout. However, since such a high demand has been placed on your body, your metabolic rate will get a huge boost from the oxygen deficit and you will be in calorie burning mode for 8 to 12 or even 14 hours after your workout. Overall, you will burn much more calories with high intensity training.
Many people find themselves perspiring for hours after their workout is over. You become a fat burning machine round the clock and this will really speed up the fat loss process. Everybody wants to lose the weight as fast as they can and HIIT is one of the best tools to use to achieve optimum results.
There is a catch here. High intensity training is NOT easy. If you have led a sedentary lifestyle for years, you can’t just get off the couch and do a high intensity workout. You will end up panting, cursing and feel like you’re going to die.
You will need to get your body accustomed to it slowly. This is a gradual process. Do not try to rush it or training will become torturous and you will be scared to exercise. In a worst case scenario, you may end up injuring yourself.
Start off with slow cardio. If all you can do is walk, then walk. Take note of the distance and time taken to complete the walk. Record this down in a notebook. Every day when you go for your walk, try to shave a few seconds off the timing from your walk.
Try jogging or running for about 20 to 30 meters every now and then during the walk. The goal here is to reduce your timing. As time progresses, you will find that you can jog more often. Keep doing this and you may even be able to run for short spurts. This is the foundation of high intensity training… and this method of gradual progress can be applied to any exercise whether it’s swimming, cycling or bodyweight training.
Keep challenging yourself. It’s always intimidating when you are starting off. You are weaker and not used to exercise. HIIT seems like a distant goal that is insurmountable. If you stick to daily exercise and keep challenging yourself to improve on your personal best, you will be amazed at how much progress you make.
Most people find that they are able to engage in high intensity training within 45 to 60 days of their training program. So, stick to your program and give it your best. As your training intensity increases, the speed at which you drop the excess pounds will increase too. You will have more energy, more strength and more stamina. This is a fantastic place to be in. Work for it.
How to Patiently Struggle with Yourself
The biggest reason most people quit on their goals is because they do not see results fast enough. This is true for any endeavor regardless if it’s weight loss, business, relationships, etc.
We live in a world of text messages and emails. Everything is fast and people expect instant results with minimal work. That is why so few people succeed in anything that they do. Success takes time. It requires determination, perseverance and patience.
You absolutely need patience. When you are trying to lose weight, the first 3 weeks are always the hardest. This is the period when most people quit on themselves. They expect to see miraculous results. They clean up their diet and go to the gym religiously.
With all these sacrifices and work, they expect to get their dream body within a month. This is unrealistic because it took the body months and even years to gain all the excess fat. It will take time for the body to shed the fat. Ideally, you should stick to your diet and training for 90 days to see visible results. Most people quit before the 90 days. They never get to see the magic happen
When you decide to embark on a weight loss quest, take a few photos of your body when you start off and take photos once a week after that. These photos will motivate you to keep going because you will be able to see the difference. Expect to lose about 2 pounds a week.
Generally, most people lose about this much every week. Sometimes it may be more and sometimes less, but for the most part, 2 pounds is a good estimate. Celebrate and be happy even if it’s just two pounds. You are making progress. A person who is 30 pounds overweight is looking at a 15 week stretch.
Mentally prepare yourself to stay in the game for these 15 weeks. By the 10th week, you will see so much progress and that will inspire you to keep going all the way. Do not worry about how long it will take you. The time will pass anyway. If you quit in the first month, you will still be overweight and unfit 5 months later.
Keep going and you will get there. There will be days of self-doubt when you feel like you could do more or that it’s not worth the effort. At times like this, tell yourself that you are worth it. You only need to do this once. Once you have lost all your excess weight, maintaining your ideal weight becomes much easier.
This is a hump that you must cross and be patient till you cross it. Look at body transformation videos on YouTube to get motivation. If others can do it, so can you. Many of them took 9 months and some took more than a year to get the body they wanted. Time is your ally.
There is no rush. Trying to speed things up just places more stress on yourself. Where are you going anyway? You are stuck in your body whether you like it or not. So, be patient and thankful that you have the strength and opportunity to diet and train till you get the body of your dreams. A man who masters patience, masters everything else.