I know there are many recent articles on High Intensity Interval Training. However, I think most of them do not fully and/or clearly explain this training modality. I hope this article will help remedy this situation.

I know most of us were told that when we are in an aerobic state which raises our Heart Rate (HR) to over 70% of our maximum Heart Rate (MHR), we can not burn fat for fuel. This was simply based on our understanding of the nature of the chemical processes our cells use to replenish their supply of fuel.

However, lots of new studies with well documented results indicate that we obviously don't know exactly what is going on at the cellular level, because this research shows that we burn more calories from fat at these higher HR levels than we do at lower ones. And this is on top of burning more carbohydrates as well. One study with 17 participants conducted over a 20 week period showed that the HIIT group lost over three times the amount of measured body fat as the endurance training group!

What is clear is that HIIT is the way to go to burn fat and conserve muscle mass. This is because if we do just high intensity training, we will burn through our stores of carbohydrates and not burn fat. Thus, we will start to breakdown our muscles to make carbs for fuel inorder to cintinue exercising. Somehow, training with Intervals avoids this muscular breakdown and allows the use of Fats for fuel instead of muscle.

Perhaps this is do to the fact that during the lower intensity training periods our body uses fat for fuel; and somehow, it also uses fat to replenish our stores of ATP which we burned through during the High Intensity periods. Then, when we do our next HI interval, we have the fuel we need, in the form we need it. This will spare our muscles and allow us to keep working.

As also pointed out in almost all of the HIIT articles, much of the additional burning of calories occurs after we have finished exercising. This fact can allow us to burn more total calories from a shorter HIIT workout than from a longer Steady State (non-Interval) exercise workout. This is important for all of us (not just those with limited time to spend) because unless we are extremely fit to start with, we will not be able to perform HIIT for as long as non-HIIT.

Remember, HIIT is very physically demanding. You must make sure your are fit enough to handle the additional stresses it will place on your body. If you have any doubts, consult with your doctor.

Although there are many variations of HIIT, here are some (which I published in my Newsletter) that are not as physically demanding as most of them and will still get you on the road to the results you want:

This program can be done on any form of cardio equipment or even jogging outside or swimming laps:

* Start with an easy 4 minute warm up, casually increasing your pace to the one that you usually maintain for your workout.

* Once you are sufficiently warm, sky rocket your intensity for 30 seconds.

* Return to your normal pace for the next 30 seconds and then sky rocket again.

* Repeat this 30-30 interval for 6 minutes and then gradually decrease your intensity as you enter a cooling off pace.

After your HIIT session you can expect to burn more calories due to an increase in your metabolism - sounds good, right? If you aren't fit enough to jump into a full-fledged HIIT session, you may consider trying one of the following modified HIIT workouts:

Modified HIIT 1:

* Start with at least a 5 minute warm up, casually increasing your pace to the one that you usually maintain for your workout.

* Once you are sufficiently warm, increase your intensity for a full minute.

* Return to your normal pace and remain here until you have recovered enough to go again.

* Repeat this 1 minute interval with full recovery time between each one for the full extent of your workout and then gradually decrease your intensity as you enter a cooling off pace.

Modified HIIT 2:

* Start with at least a 5 minute warm up, casually increasing your pace to the one that you usually maintain for your workout.

* Once you are sufficiently warm, change your speed and intensity for 2 minutes.

* Return to your normal pace for 2 minutes and then change your intensity and speed again. The key is to keep your body guessing - you aren't doing full intensity work, but you also aren't staying at the same pace for the entire length of the workout.

* Repeat this 2 minute interval for the full extent of your workout and then gradually decrease your intensity as you enter a cooling off pace.

Of course, as you become fitter, you can increase the time of High Intensity and lower the Recovery Periods to match your increased Aerobic capacity to the point where you are using a 1:1 ratio of HIgh Intensity to Recovery.

For more information about many kinds of training, please see my website at www.Genbukan.biz For subscriptions to my Newsletter, just go to my contact page and send me an email requesting to be put on my mailing list.