Intervals: Fast Fat Loss Cardio

What are Intervals?

Intervals are a type of “cardio” workout where you alternate brief, high intensity periods of exercise (where you work out as intensely as you can), with active recovery periods, where you slow down just long enough to catch your breath.

Short and “sweet” vs. long, tedious and boring is what delivers fast fat loss cardio results – lasting results, doable results.

High intensity cardio in the form of intervals is much more effective than ‘normal’ low intensity cardiovascular exercise – especially in terms of fat loss. In fact, 10-15 minutes of high intensity cardio performed 3 or 4 times per week is all you need to shed more fat and inches as you prep for bikini season.

REALLY!

Studies -as well as countless testimonials of Cardio Queens – prove high intensity cardio workouts “Intervals” can provide all of the following fitness benefits:

* dramatically boosted metabolism – both during AND after exercise

* faster rate of body fat-to-energy conversion

* preserves lean muscle (muscle is your metabolism – you do not what to lose this!)

* significant increase in aerobic capacity (Max VO2) = increased endurance and stamina

The Main Reason Why we love Intervals

**They are short!**

As busy women, we just do not have the TIME to spend an hour a day 6 to 7 days each and every week on the treadmill. If you can get it done in a matter of minutes AND feel an amazing amount of energy -YOU will KEEP Doing It – this is a realistic plan that lends to the ease of being consistent! So you solve you “I just can’t stick to it” problem!

Are you still banking your results on the calories burned on a treadmill?

Finding it hard to believe that while doing a longer cardio session you may burn 400-500 calories but when you try out these short burst intervals for 15 minutes you may only burn 150-160 calories.

When Fast Fat Loss is your goal, your concern and focus needs to lie in boosting your metabolism so your body burns more calories 24-7 – not just during the time you are “doing cardio”.

A lot of women fall prey to the number of calories burned on a treadmill for it is immediate feedback…immediate gratification that they are making progress – and their efforts on cardio will erase the # of calories they indulged in the day before.

Well this number can be off by as much as 30% as it does not account for several different variables….such as your body fat percentage or your true your fitness level.

To further the issue, the typical “Cardio for Fat Loss” mindset is: The more calories I burn, the faster I will lose weight, the more weight I will lose.

That is great, however, immediate calorie burn is not what makes a difference on your body’s ability to burn more fat and calories all day long.

The elevated calorie burn you see on a treadmill diminishes and goes back to “normal” shortly after the cardio session ends…..this means your body is burning less overall calories.

Consequences of Long Duration Cardio

The longer you “do” cardio, the more you put your body at risk of taking energy from or burning lean muscle. This is NOT good if Fat Loss is your goal.

Muscle is the foundation of your calorie burn…the more lean muscle you have – the more calories you burn – all day, all night….sitting down, standing up, sleeping, watching TV….not just when you are exercising.

So in essence – women find themselves doing more and more cardio based on the # of calories burned and the fact that they end up having to do more and more since the entire process ends up backfiring and slowing down their metabolism. It is very common for women to end up doing long bouts of cardio just to maintain a body they are not happy with, feeling nothing works and there is no other option.

See the Sillyness of it all!

Check out my very own Intervals example if I go by “calories burned”

After spending 13 super intense and sweaty minutes – I only burned 112 calories!

If this was my only measure of success – can you see how I could quickly feel defeated and NOT want to stick with this type of cardio plan?

I do not fret!

When intervals are performed at an intense level, your body will spend the rest of the day expending energy to recover from the challenge you have given it.

This is referred to as EPOC (excess post-exercise oxygen consumption) and it means that you consume a great deal more oxygen recovering from the exercise bout than you would have if you’d just done a steady-state workout – this in turn allows you to burn more fat and calories for the rest of the day.

Traditional cardio – while yes has some benefits – will not give you this benefit nor the advantage to faster and more effective fat loss.

How to “Do” Intervals:

EX: Walking on the Treadmill: Basic Program

Start with a three to five minute warm-up then go right into your first interval: 30 seconds of brisk walking (or jogging). At the end of 30 seconds, you should be winded and ready to slow down. This will be your active recovery period, slowing your walking down for the next 2 minutes. Then repeat by increasing the intensity of your speed for 30 seconds.

3-5 minute warm up

30-60 sec. “high”

30-90 sec “low”

Repeat this pattern for 4 to 8 complete Intervals (a total of 10 to 15 minutes) and finish with a cool down.

If you are new to this style of cardio, you will find that a mere 8 minutes feels quite long and intense. That’s when you know you’ll never have to go back to long, tedious, time-wasting cardio again.

While it is common to see intervals performed on a treadmill, you actually do not need any special equipment for an effective Intervals workout.

All you need is your own body!

Moves such as jumping jack, jump rope and running in place provide just the intensity you need.

You can see body weight Intervals in Action from the video I shared yesterday…

NOTE: If you are new to exercise and especially fast fat loss cardio intervals, please consult with your physician before you begin – especially if you have health conditions. As always, when you begin any type of new exercise, start off slowly and work your way up.

They’re Here!

DONE-FOR-YOU Pre-Programmed Workout Soundtracks With Me as Your Personal Coach Telling You Exactly When To Start And When To Stop With Strategically Placed Countdowns and Updates, With All The Motivation You Need To Complete An Intense Interval Session!

No more watching the clock, trying to find the right music to match, or trying to find the motivation to push through another intense intervals session.

You have 2 package options! The Basic which contains One 60:60 soundtrack or the Deluxe which contains 3 soundtracks.

The Interval Soundtracks:

~Basic Soundtrack is 60 seconds on, 60 seconds off

- Repeat 6 times for a total of 12 minutes.

~Intermediate Soundtrack is 30 seconds on, 30 seconds off

- Repeat 10 times for a total of 10 minutes.

~Advanced Soundtrack 60 seconds on, 30 seconds off

- Repeat 9 times for a total of 13 minutes.

PLUS – yes I have more for you – I created a Comprehensive Workout Guide

This is packed with everything you need to know about Intervals — from how to get started, how to know if you are doing your intervals correctly, how to get the best results and dozens of interval training workout sample programs, complete with exercise list and exercise archive providing you with Hundreds of possible Interval Training workouts so you Never get bored and you Never hit a plateau! No special equipment required! Just a way to listen to your Interval Training Soundtrack!

Yes, all soundtracks are accessed online and can be downloaded as the music file of your choice.

Remember you have 2 package options – The basic with 1 soundtrack and the Deluxe with 3 soundtracks.

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