By COOPER STANLEY
Stduent Reporter
Get off the elliptical and try new forms of cardio like high interval training to help get that body ready for summer.
Schools almost out, and that means it’s almost summer time, a time to enjoy the beach, the lake house, water parks, the swimming pool and hey you may as well try and look good while enjoying those summer activities.
Outside of proper nutrition, which will always be the most important thing to losing fat and gaining proper muscle, cardio workouts are the best way to burn those extra pounds off.
Too many people walk into the gym and jump on the elliptical and swing their legs and arms around aimlessly for 30 minutes hoping to see results in the mirror the next day, when shredding fat isn’t that easy.
There is a time and a place for walking on the treadmill, getting some elliptical workouts in, but these low intensity forms of cardio are not optimal for fat burning.
The best way to burn fat is to bump up the intensity and bump up the heart rate with high intensity interval training, or HIIT as it is commonly referred to as.
The great thing about HIIT training is it can be whatever you want it to be, as long as it’s almost at max effort for short spurts of time.
Examples of HIIT workouts are sprints, jumping lunges and jump rope.
The most effective way to do a HIIT workout is to go at max effort for 20 to 30 seconds with the same amount of rest until you begin to start again.
Another benefit of HIIT training is sessions usually only last under 10 minutes, because the body is being pushed to the limit, there is no need for 30 minute to an hour-long cardio sessions.
That way the typical, “I don’t have time,” excuse is no longer an option.
Save yourself from countless hours on boring cardio machines and try out HIIT training for a couple weeks and see the pounds fall off, coupled with proper nutrition of course.