Bikini Body With Interval Training

By Grace Lazenby
It's time to pull out that swimsuit or to shop for a new one! In addition to the normal protocol of waxing, self-tanning, a pedicure and any other bikini ritual you may have, we have to take a long hard look at what's been hiding under those jeans all winter and spring. But no worries! Here's a fun fat-burning cardio workout that, along with a very healthy diet, will have you in a bikini..

Interval training is all the rage right now. Sometimes referred to as HIT (High Intensity Training), the basic idea is that you alternate between bursts of high-intensity work and recovery periods of lower intensity work. I love it for those days when I have to save a little time because you can get a lot done in less time with this workout.

Read more about HiiT at Livestrong.com

Benefits of HIIT High Intensity Interval Training

A study at Laval University in Quebec, Canada found that HIIT cardio helped trainees loose nine (yes, 9!) times more fat than those who trained the traditional way (moderate speed for 20-60 minutes). Combine HIIT with your weight program and you boost your metabolism through the roof!

The Reason HIIT Is So Successful Is This:

1. When you work at a high intensity, you burn more total calories per pound of body weight.
2. High Intensity workouts such as weight training and HIIT boost growth hormone levels.
3. Elevates the body's metabolism throughout the entire day!

Read more at TeenBodyBuilding.com

High-intensity interval training (HIIT)

High-intensity interval training (HIIT) is an exercise strategy that is intended to improve performance with short training sessions.

A HIIT session involves a warmup period, several short, maximum-intensity efforts separated by moderate recovery intervals, and a cooldown period. The period of alternating effort and recovery intervals typically lasts a total of 15 minutes.

Studies by Tabata ^[1], Tremblay^[2], and others have shown this method to be more effective at burning fat and maintaining, or building, muscle mass than high-volume, lower intensity aerobic work-outs. According to a study by King ^[3] , HIIT increases the RMR (resting metabolic rate) for the following 24 hours due to EPOC (Excess post-exercise oxygen consumption), and may improve VO₂ max more effectively than doing only traditional, long aerobic workouts.^[4][5][6][7] Long aerobic workouts have been promoted as the best method to reduce fat, as fatty acid utilization usually occurs after at least 30 minutes of training. HIIT is somewhat counter intuitive in this regard, but has nonetheless been shown to burn fat more effectively. There may be a number of factors that contribute to this, including an increase in RMR, and possibly other physiological effects.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-intensity_interval_training