High Intensity Interval Training

Summary High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) is a cardio method used to aid in burning calories through boosting your metabolism. HIIT consists of alternating between sprinting and walking for 20 minutes, rather than the typical jogging cardio most people are sucked into.  HIIT is highly effective because it increases your RMR (Resting Metabolic Rate) for up to 24 times as long as traditional, long aerobic workouts.  Your body consumes much more oxygen because it attempts to adapt to the exercise you performed, hence increasing the number of calories you burn for 24-48 hours, whereas traditional aerobic workouts only increase your RMR for 1-2 hours. This boost in calories burned is perfect for lean muscle gain, because it shreds the fat--just make sure you are sticking to your weightlifting routine or you will get a skinny appearance rather than lean.

Here is an example of the HIIT workout that I perform 2-3 times a week on a treadmill:

The speeds at which I workout are based on me being 5'7.  If you are taller, or shorter, I would suggest altering your speed according to what feels comfortable for your legs.

Workout Length: 20 minutes

Walk at 3.5 mph for 3 minutes (warm up)

Sprint at 7.5 mph for 2 minutes

[5 minutes]

Walk at 3.5 mph for 3 minutes 

[8 minutes]

Sprint at 9.5 mph for 1 minute

Walk at 3.5 mph for 1.5 minutes

[10:30 minutes]

Sprint at 7.5 mph for 1 minute

Walk at 3.5 mph for 1.5 minutes

[13 minutes]

Sprint at 9.5 mph for 1 minute

Walk at 3.5 mph for 1.5 minutes

[15:30 minutes]

Sprint at 7.5 mph for 1 minute

Walk at 3.5 mph for 1.5 minutes

[18 minutes]

Sprint at 9.5 mph for 1 minute

Walk at 3.5 mph for 3 minutes (cool down)

[22 minutes]

Increase Lean Muscle

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I Lost 22 pounds, and 13% of my body fat in 6 months. 

I am 5'7 and currently weight 148lbs. I have spend the past year trying to cut down on my body fat and gain lean muscle. I decided it was time to start to gain lean muscle when I noticed my stomach hanging over my shorts. Sad, but true: my stomach was in fact hanging over my shorts. I was 5'7, roughly 170lbs and over 20% body fat. 170 is not much, but my body fat percentage was so high, it made me look quite chubby.

The reason I am writing this to you is because I have spent the past year learning about how to gain lean muscle WHILE lowering your body fat percentage. But not only did I read a million articles, and books, but I also managed to reduce my body fat percentage significantly. I am going to show you EXACTLY how I mangaged to gain lean muscle and reduce my body fat.

October 2009, December 2009, April 2010, August 2010

Not the greatest picture because I was foolish and lost the pictures of my results, but you can clearly see how much my face shape has changed since 2009.

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Just Dance 2: HIIT

From the moment I slid the disc into my Wii, I could feel an electric pulse surging through my body. With the assistance of my wife I played through ten songs, stopping for mere seconds between each song for a breather. This is a perfect HIIT workout, I burn about 300 calories in 30-45 minutes (depending on the song selection)--not to mention the significant boost HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) gives your metabolism. I played for about 30 minutes using my HRM during the 'Just Sweat' mode. My Heart Rate Monitor showed that I burned roughly 250 calories, while my sweat count was around 2400. So every ten sweat points represents roughly one calorie. One of the most difficult aspects of cardio (especially for myself) is to keep it interesting. It's easy to lose focus, when your running nowhere on a treadmill. This game is FUN? Straight up. Everyone who has played this at my house leaves saying, "Man, I'm gonna buy a Wii just so I can play this game!" From Avril Lavigne to Beastie Boys to Cher to Elvis to James Brown to Jackson 5 to Rolling Stones, this game has it all. Whatever you feel like dancing to, Just Dance caters to your desires. I highly recommend at least trying this game out for your cardio workouts. Not necessarily as an every-day cardio substitute, but it's nice to mix things up every once in a while. Give it a try, and let me know how it goes for you!
Fun
Workout
Price

Protein Supplements

The most important aspect of gaining lean muscle is your diet. Straight up. You can't gain lean muscle without eating a healthy, high-protein diet. Your body needs you to intake plenty of protein so that it doesn't need to use your muscle for energy, and the amino acids in the protein will build your muscles up stronger assuming that you have an intense workout that breaks down your muscles.

There are three types of protein supplements common to the market: Whey, Casein, and Soy.

1. Whey protein generally has a greater number of amino acids neccessary for muscle recovery.
2. Casein protein is a slow digesting protein, perfect to take at night so that your muscles recover efficiently while you sleep.
3. Soy protein is, obviously, from soybeans and honestly, I've never taken any Soy protein supplements. I do, however, eat soybeans (soynuts) as they are high in protein and fiber.

So now on to the big question: which protein powder is the best? Muscle milk, Optimum Nutrition, Syntha-6, GNC, Body Fortress, etc, etc? This can vary significantly depending on your goals, I personally prefer Syntha-6 because it contains some complex carbs, and some fat to increase your calorie intake for the day. Eating healthy foods sometimes is difficult, and it's nice to have a protein shake that can knock out 400+ calories.

I reccommend taking 1 gram of protein per pound of fat. More than that seems goofy to me, because more than that jacks your calorie intake up too much. Also, on a side-note wikipedia says your body can only digest 120g to 220g per day...nuff said.

Also, don't mix more than one scoop of powder per shake. Per serving you should not have more than 30 grams of protein, most research suggests your body can only digest around 20-30 grams of protein at a time.

That's that. Peace.

Pre-workout Supplements

In this article, I hope to answer several questions you may have about Pre-workout supplements. Pre-workout supplements are created to maximize your time spent in the gym. They are intended to increase your energy, they help you to maintain focus, and they attempt to give you an enormous pump. I'd like to state right off the bat, that I DO NOT reccommend taking a Pre-workout supplement. These have not been tested, and no one knows the long-term effects of a majority of the products on the market. That being said, I have tried a variety of different Pre-workout supplements and have found that they do exactly what they claim to do. The energy and focus is unbelievable! The first product I tried was a sample I received from Complete Nutrition called Bezerk. I had the greatest workout ever...until I tried Jack3d. From the moment I mixed Jack3d and tasted it, I could feel my whole face tingle. I got to the gym, turned on my blackberry, and hit up Sandstorm. Needless to say, it was on. I ran for five miles, compared to my regular one mile warm-up. I just kept going and going. The focus was so amazing. Typically, when I run I get discouraged thinking about how absurd it is to run in place, as time passes I watch the calories burned counter go slowly up--not anymore! Now I glance down at how long I've been running, and I am shocked: "32:15"! Jack3d contains Arginine Alpha-Ketoglutarate, Creatine Monohydrate, Beta Alanine, Caffeine, 1,3-Dimethylamylamine (Geranium [Stem]), Schizandrol A. It is important that I note that an over consumption of jack3d is unwise, and could lead to some pretty nasty side effects. So use it at your own risk. Until next time. USP Lab's Jack3d:
Taste
Effectiveness