The Three Top HITT Cardio Workouts

Now that our half marathon training has ended we have shifted our focus back to gaining muscles and doing HITT cardio workouts. HITT cardio is high intensity interval training, which incorporates intervals of low intensity, dropping the heart rate. Followed by intervals of high intensity, increasing the heart rate. This is different then our marathon training, which was mainly long steady state cardio that kept our heart rate at a moderate rate for long period of time.

While both types of cardio have their benefits, for us busy gals HITT cardio can be more beneficial, because:

1. Time Saver: HITT cardio allows us burn more calories in a shorter time and since our time is valuable this is huge plus.
2. Increases your Metabolic Rate: Since we are sitting down all day we want to keep our metabolism in high gear to burn more fat after our workout.
3. Keeps our Muscle: We want to persevere our hard earned muscles while burning the most amount of calories.
4. Can Be Done Anywhere: Since HITT cardio doesn’t require equipment or a track, it can be done just about anywhere.

Three types of the top HITT cardio session to keep things interesting:

1. Minute Walk-Jog-Sprint: Start by walking for a minute (level 1-5).  jog for a minute (level 6-10), and then sprint for a minute (level 11-15). By setting short one-minute goals, it makes the time go by a lot faster.
2. Music or Commercial: Make a playlist of your favorite songs to exercise to. Then during the chorus, begin to sprint (or do burpees) and rest or walk during the verses. At the end of the song, when chorus is on repeat, you’ll be toasted. Also if you are watching a show while on the treadmill/stairmill, increase the speed during commercial breaks.
3. Make Into A Workout: Like the HITT workout we shared earlier on our blog here. Find 3-5 exercises that get the heart rate up and complete 10-15 reps back-to-back. Then rest for 30-60 seconds between every round. Continue for 5 to 10 sets or for the duration of time.