A Hill Workout to Remember
Yesterday, I gave a brief introduction to the benefits of doing hill workouts and today I’d like to share an amazing incline interval to spike your metabolism. This workout will force your body to burn fat all day long even while you are sitting!
Here we go:
The Warm-Up
Start at the bottom of the hill and walk briskly straight up for 3 minutes to warm the body up. Walk down to the bottom at a comfortable pace.
The Workout
Sprint as fast as your legs will move for 30 seconds
Rest 30 seconds
Sprint all out for 20 seconds
Rest 20 seconds
Sprint like your pants are on fire for 10 seconds
Rest 10 seconds
The Cool Down
Walk back down the hill at a slow comfortable pace (running down hills is just about one of the worst things you can do for your knees, so refrain from this activity during the workout).
Repeat
You can repeat this interval as many times as you can complete it with good technique. With time your aerobic and anaerobic systems will improve and you find yourself able to complete the first couple of rounds with far greater ease - I promise, so stick with it!
If you are a true beginner, substitute walking or light jogging for running. Whenever possible I prefer to be outdoors and taking in some fresh air, but you can also feel free to use a treadmill if you don’t live near any hills.
The height of the incline is largely dependant upon your current level of fitness. Play around with inclines to meet the demands that you are looking to place on your body.
Enjoy!
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Posted by: | Oct 11, 2007 7:49:06 PM
Yes Stephen you're right that catecholamines - the "fight or flight" chemicals (epinephrine...) are produced during interval training. With that said the "afterburn" is still minimal (e.g. about 10 - 28 calories in a 24 hour period following intervals).
And interval training is a great form of exercise (especially for sports performance) for some people, however I continue to maintain that interval training for weight loss is somewhat of a fad and not a panacea. Sumo wrestlers do interval training...
BTW, personally I LOVE intervals, but many of my clients (especially female) prefer steady-state (about 70-80% of max HR) and have achieved great weight loss results.
Anyway, I've enjoyed our discussion and keep up the good work.
Tom
Posted by: Stephen Cabral | Oct 11, 2007 3:43:26 PM
Hi Tom,
Thank you for your comments.
Within the last 6 months there have been a few excellent studies done out of Austrailia that are revisiting how we look at fat loss from interval training.
EPOC is beginning to actually take a back seat to new theories on fat burning enzymes that become "turned on" after intense woorkouts.
I will be sure to post the results from these studies when they have been confirmed.
In the mean time, we do know that intervals are the most powerful fat burning activity you can do... we just don't know exactly how they do it.
