The primary principles behind High Intensity Training are that exercises should be brief, infrequent and intense to achieve the desired results.  The exercises performed in High Intensity Training are done with a high level of effort from the athlete to the point that it will stimulate the body to produce increased muscle growth.  As the strength levels of an athlete increase High Intensity Training techniques will require the weight/resistance to be progressively increased to continue stimulating muscle growth.  Because HIT workouts require the athlete to exercise intensely for shorter periods of time, it is crucial that the body be given the proper amount of time to recover.  In High Intensity Workouts more emphasis is placed on rest and recovery than in other weight training processes.

A typical High Intensity Training program consists of performing a single set per exercise three times a week.  The amount of reps and weight is dependent on your level of fitness, volume and frequency of training.  High Intensity Training experts compel athletes to use a controlled lifting speed while maintaining the proper form.  The athlete should avoid bouncing, jerking or yanking the weight when working out.  It is recommended that the athlete use a smooth natural pace when working out in order to avoid injury.  Trainers also suggest that when an athlete’s muscles are near the exhaustion point that static holds be performed along with negative reps be performed.  Doing these types of exercises will help stimulate muscle growth and increase their strength.  While your muscles may not be able to actually lift any more weight, you will be able to simply hold the weight which will help increase your muscles level of growth.

High Intensity Training is a very demanding method of exercise.  People who are healthy and have discussed adding HIT with their personal trainer or doctor should only attempt it.  They will know if your body is capable of handling the extra stress and demands of High Intensity Training.

Bodyweight training is one of the best ways to get and stay in shape because it utilizes your own body weight to provide the resistance for the workout.   Using your own bodyweight to train the overall body allows you to progress at your own fitness level.  As you start to get more physically fit your body will start to become tone and you’ll lose body fat.

As your body transforms and you continue to use bodyweight exercise, you will be able to increase the intensity of each exercise.  This increased intensity will lead to the ability for you to increase your overall range of motion during an exercise which in turn will tone and strength the body better than most free weight or resistance training programs.

Many people think that they can reproduce bodyweight exercises like pulls, push-ups and sit-ups by doing lat pull-downs, bench presses and machine assisted crunches.  However; these types of exercises don’t fully utilize the body enough to be considered a full body exercise because they only focus on a specific muscle group while a bodyweight exercise utilize other parts of the body as well.

Bodyweight exercises are an excellent way to get started on a workout routine and can easily be worked into a whole body fitness program for most types of people.  There are a few types of people who will want to avoid starting an exercise plan with bodyweight exercises. Below is a guide to see who can benefit from adding bodyweight exercises into their overall training program.

Who Can Body Weight Train?

The good news is that pretty much anyone can body weight train.  Training with a person’s own body weight can help people who are overweight, underweight or in good health.  For people who are a little overweight they may want to work their bodyweight exercise into their overall workout plan one exercise at a time.  For example, bodyweight dips or squats. As they get in better shape they can change up their bodyweight routines and add more unique exercises to help them obtain their fitness goals.

People who are a little underweight will find that the bodyweight exercise program will help them build overall muscle faster than if they just lifted weights or used resistance machines.  Of course for people who are looking to gain muscle fast it is probably a good idea for them to add in some free weight or machine weight exercises due to the fact that they won’t have a lot of resistance at the beginning.

For those types of people who find themselves in good shape often find bodyweight training a great way to help them stay in shape.  Since bodyweight exercises utilize a person’s own body it is also an excellent way to maintain for a person who is has reached their fitness goals and wants to maintain their fitness level.

People with injuries, chronic pain or are severely obese should check with a trained professional and their physician before they embark on a bodyweight training program.   Even though these are often easy exercises to do there are many parts of the body used in the process which may cause overdo strain on people who have injuries to their joints.

There are all sorts of ways to gain lean muscle during your body transformation workouts.  The most popular way is by lifting weights, but there are plenty of other ways to exercise and increase muscle mass.  You can use bodyweight exercises for a particular part of the body, you can use group exercise classes, power yoga and a myriad of other ways to obtain lean muscle tone that will lead you to a whole new body frame.  The importance of gaining lean muscle is by far the important part; however the way you gain your muscle mass is up to you.

You should find something that you enjoy doing in order to gain the lean muscle.  If you like to jog, then that is what you should do.  Whatever you find that will keep you active and moving will inevitably help you to increase your muscle and strength.  That is what you need when you want to make a full body transformation work properly.

When changing your body is the goal, it is important to remember that it will not happen overnight.  It takes time, patience, and persistance.  In most cases you will start out seeing great changes in the beginning and may see a plateau in the progress after a period of three months.  That is normal and that does not mean that you should discontinue with your training or with your fitness goals.  You just need to know that it is perfectly normal for that to happen and for a time you may look the same and be working really hard.  It may just take more high-intesnsity strength training and overall effort for you to see the results that you want.

As you gain lean muscle you will become stronger.  You can add to your exercising routine and try harder things such as, circuit training, Olympic weightlifting, or kettlebells. This will increase your stamina, lean muscle, and overall physical conditioning.  As you progress you will eventually see the results in your body that you are after.  It takes time and you need to make sure that you don’t give up before you reach your body transformation goals.  Having a coach or trainer along the way with you will increase the ability to stay motivated and remain focused on your fitness goals.  Then you will see the results in your body that you want.  It does take time, but the rewards are always worth it.  Becoming healthy and fit is always worth the effort that it takes.

Outdoors

You can still work out outdoors many days during the winter. There are several things to remember, though. First, make sure you are healthy enough to work out in the cold. If you have any medical conditions, ask your doctor if it is healthy for you to work outdoors when it is cold.

Next, wear the right clothing. That does not mean wearing the thickest, warmest sweat suit you have. It means wearing layers of clothing that you can remove as you exert yourself and your body temperature rises. It is also a good idea to have reflective patches on your outer clothing, because you might get caught out in the dark with the sun going down earlier this time of year.

Finally, have some common sense. When the news stations are requesting travelers to stay off the roads, it is not a good time to go out jogging. If it is too icy to drive or there is a blizzard in the area, most likely it is too dangerous to be out on the side of the road or a jogging trail.

Indoors

You can still work out in the gym most winter days, but you might have to make a few minor changes. For instance, it is a good idea to take some time to just be inside the warmth of the gym and more time for exercise warm-ups. Likewise, take more time letting your body return to a normal temperature afterwards, before you go back out into the cold. If you go from the heat of exercise into frigid temperatures without any transition, it can be shocking to the system.

However, on days when travel is dangerous, you should be ready at home with a small assortment of equipment such as dumbbells, a jump rope and door frame pull-up bars. For extra motivation, have some exercise videos and music as well.  Even if you have no equipment, you can use a small blanket as a mat to do pushups and other exercises. You can do stair climbing and bounding if your building has a staircase. Just be sure no one has left ice or snow on the treads.

Winter does not have to spell an end to your healthy workout regimen. You can find ways to be comfortable, safe and productive. Do not give up on your goals because the weather turns bad. Instead, make the most of the time you have to improve your fitness.

Some people make New Year’s Resolutions at the beginning of the year to eat right, exercise, lose weight and get fitter during the next year. They sign up for gym memberships in droves. The only problem is that when the excitement of the New Year is past, they begin to lose their motivation. When they do not see instantaneous perfection, they decide that they have made a mistake. They figure that they are not going to be able to succeed anyway, so they just quit.

If these people made a decision to adopt a healthier lifestyle and let the benefits of that follow naturally, they would be far better off. Life is a journey and not a destination. In exactly the same way, fitness is not a quick means to an end, but it is an end unto itself. People who are looking for a quick fix through fitness will never see lasting results. They will only see bursts of pain and discomfort and may place great physical stress on their bodies as they over-train and under-nourish themselves.

It is easy to quit everything you like and do excruciating exercises if you know you only have to do the for a very short time. That is probably why so many people start out gung ho on their fitness plans and quit very soon afterwards.

It takes more thought to make a real change. You have to find ways of including the things you like into your plan in such a way that they do not sabotage your fitness. Some fitness coaches suggest having a very small sweet treat one night a week. This allows you to have a food you may feel deprived of, and it is not enough to wreck your diet or keep you from exercising efficiently.

True fitness is something you can keep up with every day, for the rest of your life. Although you may make adjustments for illness, injury or age, you will never quit exercising or eating healthy foods. For every stage of your life, you will work up to the potential of what you can keep accomplishing day after day. You will improve, yes, but you will not need to go to extremes to get fit and healthy. You just need to make fitness an indelible part of your life.

If you have the money and if there is a gym nearby, join it. Make time in your day to visit the gym. Strength training with free-weights or machines is a great way to begin getting fit. Some gyms even have specific group training plans for using weight machines. By setting aside a certain amount of time every day, you will begin seeing results. This set schedule will not only get your body in shape, but will also provide you some well-deserved time on your own all for you.

Establish a workout routine. Begin with cardio and follow with strength training exercises. While you won’t do the strength training every day, you can keep up the cardio five, six, and even seven days a week if you wish. A specific routine will promote self-discipline. You are more likely to stay with it by sticking to a schedule than if you just visit the gym a few times a week. The routine gives you something to look forward to and a way of tracking your progress.

If you are unable to join a gym, buy dumbbells or kettlebells that you can use at home. They come in all shapes, sizes, and weight, and you will be able to perform exercises that will target a wide range of muscle groups when using them. Again, you will need to set aside a specific time each day to exercise and stick with it. If you have a family, make sure they know how importance your fitness plan is to you. Their support will also help you.

Add exercises to your fitness plan that will target your entire body, not just your thighs and abs. These are two of the most problematic areas for many women and often receive most of the attention. A well-rounded workout plan will work the entire body and typically works the body from the ground up. Feel free to add a series of leg lifts, sit-ups, v-sits, and crunches if you want to target the thighs and abs.

Eat a healthy diet. This will go along with your exercise and enable you to stay fit. If you are the primary cook in your household, it will also provide the perfect opportunity for helping others eat healthier. Find creative ways of cooking different foods for variation and change.

Begin your day with dynamic stretches. This will get your muscles limbered up. If you workout at another time of day, make sure to perform dynamic stretch before and static cool-down stretches after you exercise. Stretching is essential for healthy, fit muscles and should receive proper attention.

The first step is to set an exercise schedule that includes a minimum of four days per week. This will help motivate you as you’ll have a manageable workout schedule that includes both cardio and strength training.

Add 45 minutes of cardio exercise to your routine at least three days a week. This is what will burn fat. The strength training will build and maintain lean muscle and make your body strong, but the cardio is what will rid you of those unwanted calories.

Alter your cardio training between steady state cardio and interval training. Three days a week, do what is referred to as steady-state training. This is where you perform one activity for a long period of time, i.e. 45 minutes on a treadmill or stationary bike.

The other two to three days a week, do interval training. This can be accomplished a number of ways. While solid-state cardio burns fat, interval training burns more calories quickly. Interval training is comprised of normal cardio activity combined with activities that use short bursts of energy.

An example of interval training would be walking on a treadmill for one minute and sprinting for one minute. By repeating this process, you will burn many more calories in one training session than with 45 minutes of solid-state cardio.

Another example of interval training is lifting weights for five minutes or for a certain number of reps and sets, then running on a treadmill for one minute. The idea is to get the heart rate up, then slow it back down. This process occurs quickly, which helps to burn the unwanted fat and calories. This has become an effective way of shedding pounds because it helps you lose ten times the weight you would by doing solid-state cardio all the time.

Add strength training to your fitness routine. While you can’t actually turn fat into muscle, you can burn fat and build lean muscle. Over time, your muscles will begin to develop and become more defined.

Eat a healthy diet. This will work along with your exercise to help you lose weight ten times faster. By cutting out the unnecessary fats in your daily food intake, you are in effect burning more calories than you take in which is what promotes weight loss.

Over time, you will need to vary your time. Increase the amount of cardio you do or the amount of interval training you perform. Lengthen the sprinting intervals so you are keeping your heart rate up for a longer period of time. Add reps and sets to your strength training. Continue making healthy diet choices. Varying your plan is what will keep the weight coming off ten times faster than before.

1. Sprints

Set up a cone to mark the distance you want to go for your sprint Warm up, of course. Jog in place for a couple of minutes to get your heart rate up and then do a bit of dynamic stretching. Now you are ready for your sprints.  Run full out as fast as you can for the cone. Then, keep moving and jog more slowly back to your starting position. Do this about five times. Research has shown that this fast fitness workout can be as effective as an hour of slower cardio exercise.

2. Jump Rope

Jumping rope is a tried and true fitness exercise that has been used for increasing cardiovascular capacity. Get a sturdy jump rope with comfortable handles. If you are handy, you can make one, but be sure the rope is heavy enough to drop back to the floor when you put your arms down. It can be a thin rope, just not an extra light length of material like twine. Jump for 10 minutes straight, increasing your intensity over time as you improve your fitness.

3. Stair Climbing

First, make sure the stairs are clean and the stairways are free of clutter and debris. The first time you work out, just walk up the stairs. As you continue over time, you can walk up more quickly, begin to skip steps or even bound up the steps in great leaps.

4. Bodyweight Exercises

Learn the basic bodyweight exercises and how to do them in proper form. Learn exercises such as different forms of pushups, bodyweight squats, lunges, floor planks, bodyweight deadlifts and lying leg thrusts. Every day you are short on exercise time, put together a short routine doing a few of these exercises. By varying the routines, you will find the workouts more interesting and productive.

A few tips for fast muscle and fitness gains:

Time your workouts. Rather than going by repetitions, go by how long you have been doing the exercise. It is a revolutionary idea, but a good one. You can focus on intensity rather than the number of times you do the exercise. You can do things like lowering the weights slowly and using correct form without worrying that you are going to be all day in the gym.

Work alone. Some workouts are great with a partner, but if you want to do a fast workout, work by yourself. Then, you can go at your own pace.

Skip all the rest in between exercises. You are only decreasing the intensity of your workout when you stop to rest for a lengthy period between each exercise. Remember that high intensity is what makes fast workouts effective. That is why you can work out for less time and still get great results.

The muscle resistance can come in the form of dumbbells, resistance bands, rubber tubes used specifically for exercise, or even your own body weight. If you don’t have any such objects around the house, you may consider using bricks, bottles of water, or canned goods. The key is to create resistance. Just make sure the method you choose is safe so as to prevent injury from occurring.

There are plenty of resistance exercises from which to choose. When building your killer workout routine, you will first need to take stock of the resources currently available to you. These resources may be a local gym, exercise equipment you have in your home, or objects you are able to use in order to create resistance.

If you choose the gym, you will most likely have many different options right at your fingertips. These will include: weight machines, free weights, and exercises equipment such as resistance bands. One of the greatest advantages of going to the gym is the sheer number of options you have when working out. This allows you to vary your routine as you choose. This makes for a more flexible, and sometimes more interesting workout routine.

Another great advantage the gym provides is professional advice. Whether you actually choose to hire a trainer, or simply seek answers from professionals working there, you can easily learn new exercises and how to perform them correctly. This is important any time you are exercising. Performing exercises incorrectly can result in injury, which will most definitely slow down your fitness progress.
A trainer can also help you amp up your workouts as you go along. If you are going for the max, you will add more weight and reps over time. Your trainer will teach you each exercise and how to perform it correctly.

Exercising using equipment at home is another option. You may find this one more to your liking if you don’t wish to visit a gym or if it is just not possible. The equipment you purchase should reflect the specific exercises you plan to do. For example, you will buy dumbbells for a wide range of exercises, kettle bells for others, and resistance bands for yet more options.

When you first purchase your equipment, you’ll want to start out with lighter weights. As you go along, you’ll gradually increase to heavier ones and can purchase them as needed. Again, if you are uncertain about how to correctly perform any exercise, consult a gym professional who can show you the proper execution.

Using household goods to create resistance is another option you have where your resistance training is concerned. Canned goods and other common items make great weights. Larger cans, of course, will provide heavier weight. Be careful when using such items as they do not have hand-holds and may be easily dropped.

No matter which resistance exercises you choose always place safety first. Exercise-related injuries are common and should be taken very seriously. Preventing them is essential to your training success.

There is a starting point to every plan. Since you are interested in getting fitter, the sooner you begin the better. Checking your cardiovascular fitness is sometimes simpler if you test yourself using sprinting, jogging or aerobics exercises. Check the intensity at which you can work and the duration of time you can keep working. These observations will give you a baseline for your fitness plan.

Start light with some low-intensity cardio training, perhaps even just walking if you have not exercised in a long time. In that case, you might keep your intensity at around 50 to 55 percent of your maximum possible heart rate. Your maximum heart rate can be figured with any of a number of online calculators.

As you become used to walking, you can turn up the intensity with activities like running, aerobics classes or sprinting. Make sure you are keeping track of your heart rate so that you exercise up to a reasonable percentage of your maximum. Increase that percentage as you become fitter but do not overdo.

Regularly increase the duration of your exercise. Walk, run or do other exercises for longer periods of time before you take a break. Eventually, when you have become healthier and stronger, you can start doing interval training. To do it, you start out by doing your exercise as usual. After a period of time, you kick it into high gear and exercise at a greatly increased intensity for a short burst. Finally, you go back to your regular pace and let your muscles and cardiovascular system recover a bit before you kick it in again.

Although steady state cardio exercises and interval training are the primary methods, you can also improve your cardiovascular fitness with weightlifting, using compound exercises. Compound exercises are those that work several muscle groups with a single exercise. Some examples are squats, pushups and chin-ups.  As long as you are exerting yourself and challenging your limits, you will work out your heart and lungs as you work out your muscles.

Building your cardio fitness every day involves planning and work. It also takes a good deal of motivation. As you begin your quest for cardiovascular fitness, think about all the options that lay ahead of you. It can be an exciting view into the future.