Wakeboarding Legend Darin Shapiro on H.I.T.

H.I.T. (high intensity training) Training is one of the newer training techniques happening right now. I particularly like this type of training because it only takes 4 minutes to get your cardio session finished! I know this sounds crazy but this is what the new science is telling us.

HIT consists of short, intense bursts of exercise with either active recovery (less intense in between) or complete rest in between. Cardio and strength routines both qualify -they can both get your heart pumping and get your metabolism fired up which leads to a solid afterburn. This is because it increases the amount of time your body takes to recover AFTER you have finished your exercise session. For maximum results you must go for maximum effort on the high intensity intervals, not simply a higher heart rate. HIT causes metabolic changes that enable you to use more fat as fuel. This will improve your athletic endurance as well as fat burning potential.

Here is what I do for my HIT training thanks to my training time with personal trainer Kai Fusser. I NEVER do any more than 4 minutes of cardio in the gym. Training more than 4 minutes of cardio raises cortisol levels and puts the body into survival mode which slows down your calorie burn and reduces maximum results.

1. Get on a treadmill. Leave it off! Use your phone as a stop watch in a visible place.

2. Push the treadmill at a medium walking pace for 30 seconds.

3. When you reach 30 seconds run at maximum intensity for 10 seconds.

4. Repeat walking at a medium pace pushing the treadmill steadily for 30 seconds.

5. Repeat running at maximum intensity for 10 seconds.

Continue this 30 second low intensity 10 second high intensity interval until you reach 4 minutes. Your Done! This workout can be done twice per week, if you can handle it three times per week is even better but more than that isn’t necessarily recommended.

This is not as easy as it sounds! Make sure your body is warmed up first, I do this at the end of my workout. If done correctly, you don’t need to do another lick of cardio at all! Make sure your shoes are laced tight!

I urge anyone interested in this type of workout to do their own research and learn about this method of training!

Go Get it!

Text Darin Shapiro , Pict :Tania Pavlis, john Lipscomb