As a former pro athlete, competitive bodybuilder, and personal trainer, I’ve found that high-intensity interval training, which involves short intervals of maximum intensity, to be the most effective way to burn fat while building lean muscle. There’s no better approach to keep making progress than to ‘shock’ your body and continually challenge your heart

Why does high-intensity training work?

  1. HIIT increases the amount of calories you burn during your exercise session and afterward, because it increases the length of time it takes your body to recover from each exercise session.
  2. HIIT causes metabolic adaptations that enable you to use more fat as fuel under a variety of conditions. This will improve your athletic endurance as well as your fat-burning potential.
  3. HIIT appears to limit muscle loss that can occur with weight loss, in comparison to traditional steady-state cardio exercise of longer duration.

Click through for the four intervals of my renowned HIIT workout, which incorporates intense periods of work with short recovery segments, allowing you to keep the workout intensity high while still maintaining proper form. Adding this to your workout regimen will enable you to build cardio endurance and ultimately enhance your overall fitness level.  

Physically fit man doing a cardio HIIT workout by running up a flight of stairs

Everything You Need to Know About HIIT

Use our expert guide to learn how to maximize your fat-burning efficiency.

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