Over time, people have always looked for the best way to lose weight, and the most effective way to do it is by doing high intensity exercises .
High-intensity workouts in shorter sessions help you burn calories quickly, and unlike long, boring cardio sessions, intense training keeps you burning calories even after you’ve finished your workout.
Know and put into practice these high intensity routines to optimize your fat loss .
5 high intensity workouts to burn fat
1. Time interval training
Interval training is high intensity exercise that is alternated with short periods of rest. These exercises not only help you burn more calories than a cardio workout , but they also improve your body’s ability to burn fat. By doing these workouts, the body gets an increase in growth hormone, a hormone that helps burn fat and suppress appetite.
It should be noted that there are two ways to improve cardiovascular fitness , the first is by increasing the supply of oxygen to the heart and lungs and the second is by increasing the use of oxygen at the molecular level.
Static exercises work by increasing the supply of oxygen to your heart and lungs. However, interval workouts work on the muscles, helping them use oxygen more efficiently, so the heart doesn’t need to pump as much to work.
1.1 How to train by intervals
- Choose your favorite cardio machine, like a stationary bike or a treadmill.
- Warm up your body for 5 minutes.
- Pedal or run at a pace 20% harder than your normal cardiovascular intensity.
- After 30 to 60 seconds, reduce the intensity of the exercise, to a rate that is half the intensity of a normal cardio workout.
- Perform alternating periods of 30 to 60 seconds of hard work, with 30 to 60 seconds of easy pedaling (or easy running), 6 to 10 intervals to complete your session.
- As these exercises get easier, increase the intensity of each interval: work harder during the difficult part, shorten your rest periods, or add more intervals.
- Repeat 3-4 times a week.
2. Sprints
Sprints are one of the best ways to burn fat. Best of all, you can apply this exercise for interval training, which will help you improve your results. It is one of the most natural exercises that can be done and in turn provides excellent results.
If you are not used to doing exercises as intense as this, we recommend that you follow the following tips:
- Sprint on a hill, this way the impact on your joints will be much less, which can help you avoid injury. Doing this exercise on a hill will help you not go as fast, so you are less likely to suffer from a muscle problem.
- Start by running slowly. You can start by sprinting by gradually accelerating from a jog. Notably, most muscle injuries begin by starting too fast, causing great strain on the muscle.
- When running on a race track, you can jog in the curves, then run 10 to 20 meters on the straight, and then continue the interval by running in the same way.
- Sprints have to be short . Limit your sprints to 45 meters each, this will help you maintain a good intensity at all times, preventing your physical condition from declining, which can cause injuries.
- To improve exercise results, increase the number of sprints instead of increasing the distance covered.
- When starting out for the first time, do a sprint workout during the week . At first it will be very painful, but as you progress you will be able to adapt. Subsequently, increase to 2 sessions per week, while combining them with other workouts.
3. High intensity strength intervals
To perform high intensity exercises and burn fat , you don’t necessarily have to do traditional exercises. By combining strength exercises you can build muscle while maintaining a high heart rate, enhancing fat burning.
For example, you can do a dumbbell squat and then do some pull-ups. Your arms will rest during squats and your legs will rest during pull-ups. You can combine similar exercises to make a much more complete workout: the aim is to do more work but in a similar period of time.
To perform high intensity strength intervals :
- Choose two exercises that use opposite movements or work completely different muscles. For example, one exercise for the lower body and one for the upper body.
- For each exercise you must choose a weight that you can lift for 10 repetitions. But, instead of doing 10 repetitions, do 5 repetitions but with the same weight that you would use for ten. Rest as needed.
- Continue alternating between exercises for a set amount of time (10-15 minutes, for example), keeping track of the total number of sets you can do. In the following sessions, try to beat your mark by finishing more sets in that time or finishing the same number of sets but with more difficult weights.
4. Countdown workouts
Countdown training consists of performing pairs of exercises. This workout is great, because it helps you stay focused during the countdown.
With each round of the pair of exercises, the workout involves one less repetition of each movement: moving from sets of six to five to four, and so on, until the count reaches zero. The mentality of wanting to reach the goal will keep you very active.
As with density training, combining opposing exercises is recommended, but it also suggests choosing movements that involve maintaining a high pace. Movements like the kettlebell swing, jump squats, and push-ups can work very well.
5. Hurricane training
This routine is very good to combat the boredom of traditional exercises. Hurricane training combines weight lifting and interval training. These exercises are called with this name since they are brief but very intense.
Each hurricane is divided into three groups of three exercises, called rounds. Each round features an exercise that increases your heart rate, in addition to other exercises in between.
Hurricane training allows you to build muscle and maintain a high heart rate during training. It usually lasts between 15 and 25 minutes.
You can use the following routine as an example. For all rounds do one set of each exercise and then move on to the next exercise. Complete the round three times before moving on to the next one.
5.1 Hurricane training example
- Round 1: Run on a treadmill at 10 mph and 10% incline for 25 seconds. Next, do a Turkish kettlebell lift four times on each side of your body and 10 pull-ups. Repeat this sequence three times.
- Round 2: Run on a treadmill at 18 km / h and a 10% incline for 25 seconds. Perform 10 dips and 15 repetitions of the abdominal roller with a barbell. Repeat this sequence three times.
- Round 3: Run on a treadmill at 18.5 km / h and a 10% incline for 25 seconds. Then, do 10 repetitions of towel rowing. Finally, do 20 knee grabs .
conclusion
Most people always look for a way to lose weight quickly and easily, but the reality is that in order to do so you need to put into practice a series of high intensity exercises. These exercises can be performed without weight, but to obtain better results it is recommended to do them with weight: in this way you will be able to acquire a better physical condition.
References
- Greg, P. The 5 Best High-Intensity Exercises for Weight Loss. For Livestrong [Reviewed August 2019].
