Fitness Inventor

MUSCLE INSIDER columnist Mark Gilbert definitely practices what he preaches. Recently, he has co-authored a book in cooperation with Muscle & Fitness on HIGH-INTENSITY INTERVAL TRAINING (HIIT). Mark reviewed virtually all of the published research on this topic in the course of writing the book, so you can bet it’s one of the most complete reviews of HIIT available. It also covers nutrition and supplements, overtraining, and many other topics to maximize the results you can achieve from this highly effective form of fat-burning, muscle-sparing exercise. Here’s Mark with a simple example of an effective HIIT workout.

—THE EDITORS


Before I give you a HIIT training example, you need to know what you are trying to achieve with HIIT because most people who think they are doing it correctly are making one or more mistakes that will diminish their fat-loss and muscle-sparing results! The key to HIIT is going 95–100% “all out” for a short time and then recovering for long enough so that you can put in another maximum effort. I see tons of people making the mistake of doing long intervals with short, inadequate rest times—this is not HIIT, this is “intense cardio” and it does not have the same potent effects as HIIT! 

HIIT Cardio Rule 1: Intervals should be 15–60 seconds long and research suggests that 30 seconds is best;.

HIIT Cardio Rule 2: Do not start your next interval until your breathing rate comes down to almost normal … any sooner and you are moving towards cardio and its inferior results.

 For most people, after 30 seconds at 95– 100%, they need two to four minutes at low intensity before the next fast interval. If they are in great shape, then it will be closer to two minutes, if in average shape, then closer to four. I know this sounds like a long rest, but without a substantial recuperation, a high enough intensity will not be reached in the next interval and the metabolic changes that HIIT stimulates will not occur to the same extent (or at all). Here’s an example of the most “tried and true” fat-burning and muscle-sparing HIIT workout. If you want to do exactly the workout that the science shows causes max fat loss, max fat-burning metabolic adaptations and without the catabolic effects of traditional cardio, this is it:



Use The Spin Bike To Burn Fat Best

• 5 MINUTE warm-up.

• 30 SECONDS at 100%—YOU SHOULD BE moving those pedals as fast as possible and if you slow down too much, just ease the tension off a bit.
• 2-4min at 50% - this should be a relaxing pedal like you’re riding through the park with your 5-year-old. Gauge when to start your next interval base upon when you feel your breathing is almost normal
. Repeat this 2-4 times.
• The spin bike is ideal for doing HIIT and is what the original HIIT research was based on since this stabilizes your body and allows you to push your legs into a higher-intensity threshold. 



If this sounds easy, I have one piece of advice for you—try it—and if it is easy, you aren’t doing it right because even world class cyclists get totally winded by this!

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