You are about to be exposed to the good, the bad, and the ugly truth about HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training), thanks in part to the misleading information and flat out lies that many wanna-be fitness experts continue to dish out. It’s time for you to find out the truth about HIIT and how you can use it to your advantage during your fat loss journey.

I’d say that my love for HIIT stems from my experience as a competitive sprinter back in the day. Most of our training was based on sprint intervals and I absolutely loved every second of it… even during the times when I thought I might puke

One of the reasons that I believe HIIT has been so widely accepted is because it can be flat out fun! That’s because there is such a large variety of ways that you can perform HIIT. I’ll share some of my favorite HIIT workouts below, but first I want to discus one of the most popular and frequently talked about forms of HIIT… Sprints!

My inbox has been flooded lately with fitness experts raving about the benefits of sprint-walk intervals, and for good reason… they are very effective at burning fat, and they can be a fun challenge and a break from your traditional cardio. I’m all for spreading the word about the benefits of sprint-walk intervals for fat loss, but what disturbs me is the misleading images of the supposed benefits that you will experience from sprinting. Take this image for example. I have lost count of how many so-called fitness experts have used this image to tell you that if you do sprint intervals you will look like this.

…Are you kidding me? This is world class sprint athlete. If I spend 20 minutes a few times per week doing sprint intervals I’ll look like this? For real?

These athletes dedicate hours out of every day toward their sport and do you honestly believe that it’s just sprinting that gives them this body? How about the weight training that they do? How about their nutrition? How about their supplementation? How about the staff that they have on hand to help them recover and reduce injury?

Saying that 20 minutes of sprint intervals a few times per week will make you look like these world class athletes would be like me saying, if you lift weights you will look like Arnold Schwarzenegger. That would be a flat out lie and very deceptive. Weight training is only a piece of the puzzle, and like these world class sprinters, Arnold spent hours in the gym perfecting his body.

It gets worse though… Then I see these wanna-be fitness experts claim that doing 4 minutes of body weight intervals will make you look like a world class sprinter. Are you freakin serious??? First of all, how does bouncing up and down like a circus clown translate into sprinting? Second of all, as I mentioned above, these athletes are putting in hours each day, not 4 minutes!

This is a case of these self proclaimed fitness experts putting the sale before the truth. You better believe that they have a product to sell you that is based around working out just minutes per day. They’ll claim that it blow torches fat off your body faster than a nuclear explosion. They’ll tell you that you’re wasting your time in the gym. They’ll tell you that you are wasting your time doing long boring cardio. They say anything to get you to buy into their fantasy and buy into their program. It shouldn’t be this way!

You know what the funny thing is? These self proclaimed fitness experts don’t even have a physique that comes close to resembling a world class sprinter. If their program really delivered on the promise, shouldn’t they themselves look like a world class sprinter? The truth is, they don’t. In fact, I’d say that 99% of them may look lean, but they look skinny and weak. Many of them are flat out fat. It’s this kind of B.S. that really pisses me off, because it’s blatantly obvious that they are misleading you.

Listen… HIIT is absolutely awesome. This isn’t an article hatin’ on HIIT. I incorporate HIIT into my weekly training and have for years. It’s the claims that I see attached to HIIT that drive me nuts and it’s something that I feel must be exposed.

I know where many of these so-called fitness experts are coming from. It’s just that they have taken it to an extreme and lost sight of what’s most important… helping you get honest results.

They started off on the right track. They saw a need and filled a need. They recognize that in today’s hectic and busy lifestyle, many people do not have time to spend an hour in the gym 4-5 days per week. So they create a program that can be done from the comfort of your home and doesn’t take up much time.

This is exactly what Angie and I did a few years back with our Fat Loss Quickie 10-Minute Metabolism Booster program. This was a program that we first created for ourselves to follow. Our lifestyle was extremely busy. I was putting in a boat load of hours for my business and we had two young infants to take care of. I couldn’t stick with my regular 45 minute gym routine so I created our home based 10-minute workouts.

The thing is, we didn’t claim that our 10-minute workouts would make you look better than if you followed a 45 minute advanced training program. No! The program is absolutely awesome and is ideal for the busy person who wants to achieve a lean and athletic look. But it doesn’t produce the result that our 30-45 minute programs do.

But even with our 10-Minute Metabolism Booster program you are working out 10-minutes twice per day and five days per week. That’s a far cry from 4-minutes a few times per week. We found that simply breaking our workouts into 10-minute chunks played a key role in our compliance to the programs.

The bottom line is that short burst workouts are very effective for the right people. If you have been avoiding exercise because you don’t have time, then quick workouts will get you off your butt and rev up your metabolism. You’ll experience some really good results. But, you won’t look like a world class sprinter unfortunately.

One thing that really upsets me about these self-proclaimed fitness experts is that in order to get you to buy into their fantasy, they spend most of their time bashing every other form of exercise. They’ll tell you that bodybuilding styles of training are out dated and useless. They’ll tell you that long duration cardio is boring, a waste of time, and will lead to overuse injuries.

Even worse, they make the comparison of doing long duration cardio, such as 30 minutes of walking, jogging, or biking to results that would have you looking like a frail marathon runner. First of all, since when does 30 minutes of cardio translate into a marathon. Second of all, have you ever been to a marathon? Very few runners actually look like that until you get to the world class level, and even then they don’t all look like that. If long duration cardio made you look like a frail marathon runner, shouldn’t everyone that has ever run 30 minutes look like this image?

Once again this is a case of a self proclaimed fitness expert putting the sale before the truth. They don’t have your best interests at heart. They are only looking at padding their wallet.

Also, I’m not sure if these wanna-be fitness experts realize how freakin fast these world class marathon runners are going. I bet that the pace that the marathon runners can maintain during a 2:04 minute marathon would be faster than most of these so-called fitness experts could sprint themselves, let alone maintain it for more than 15 seconds

Getting back to the overuse injuries, the same definitely holds true for HIIT. I know more people that have been injured from HIIT than people who were injured from jogging. How many times have you watched the Olympic sprinting events on T.V. and saw a sprinter pull out with a torn hammie? It happens all the time. Sprinting involves very explosive movements. You’ve got to make sure that you are properly warmed up and hydrated if you are going to do sprint intervals.

As effective as HIIT is at burning fat, you have to be careful not to over do it. You also need to be sure that HIIT is inline with your goals. If you have a goal to gain some muscle and strength while you burn fat, you really need to limit how much you perform HIIT.

Personally, I prefer to do HIIT twice per week. Most of the time I do the intervals during my 30 minute bike ride. I’ll warm up for 5 minutes, then I’ll do 30 second all out sprints while I pedal really hard and fast, then I slow it down for 45 seconds at a nice easy pace. I’ll do that for 20 minutes followed by a 5 minute cool down.

For me, bike sprints are more effective at burning fat than running sprints, but we’re all different.

Sometimes I do hill sprints which are a total blast and a nice change of pace to my regular routine. Here’s a video of me performing a fun hill sprint workout…

Other times I will do some body weight intervals. Once again, this is simply to get some variety into my training and to have some fun. Here’s an example…

The one consistent thing that I do year round is go for a 30 minute brisk walk first thing in the morning. This is a great form of active recovery. It’s not so strenuous that it will interfere with my weight training. Hitting personal bests in the weight room is more important to me than how hard I can push myself with cardio.

Although I perform long duration cardio, whether it’s on my bike or a brisk walk, I certainly do not have the physique of a frail marathon runner, but I’ll let you be the judge of that…

…But when you ask them, “I thought you said that long duration cardio and things like walking were a waste of time and could lead to overuse injuries. Why are you incorporating walking into your day?” They respond with, “Well, I don’t really count walking as cardio. It’s just extra activity for me.” But you said it’s a waste of time? They respond, “Well, I like to do it to clear my head, help me prepare for the day, and recover from my workouts.”

…EXACTLY! They enjoy walking or they wouldn’t do it. And whether they want to admit it or not, walking has contributed to the overall appearance of their body.

The problem is that these experts have their identity so wrapped up in the, “Never do cardio” mentality, that they can’t let on that some long duration cardio is beneficial. Otherwise, all their credibility goes out the window. After all, they built an entire business around it.

Some of these experts walk for hours each day. I’ve seen it written on their blogs. Huh… go figure

Once again, the point of this article is not hatin’ on HIIT. I love it! But I believe that you must strike a balance between HIIT and other forms of movement that put you in alignment with your goals.

My ideal prescription is to incorporate a couple days of HIIT with some long duration cardio. I personally prefer biking. It’s easier on my joints and I find it much more fun. Add in your weight training and some brisk walks for active recovery and you will be good to go.

HIIT will spice up your workouts, challenge you in unique ways, and contribute to a great overall body transformation plan. Just be sure not to put all of your eggs in one basket and take a dogmatic approach.

Of course, you can’t forget that following a solid nutrition plan, such as Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle, is an absolute MUST to make sure that you maximize the fat burning benefits of HIIT and any other form of cardio.

Obviously from the tone of this post you can tell that I’m fed up with the direction that the fitness industry has been heading. It’s become all about the hype, the almighty dollar, and the quick fixes, while it’s becoming less of an art form and something that you actually enjoy doing.

I’m here to set the record straight. I have your best interests at heart. Yes I earn my living as a fitness professional, but I always place the truth before the sale.

I’d love to hear your thoughts, feedback, and opinions. Please be sure to share them in the comment box below.

To achieving your limitless potential,

Scott Tousignant

About The Authors

Scott and Angie Tousignant have been helping busy men and women, just like you, transform their body and life for over a decade. This dynamic duo prides themselves on providing a balanced and practical approach that will motivate and inspire you to become the best YOU that you can be.

Scott and Angie have dedicated themselves to sharing their exact workouts, what they eat, and how they stay motivated to continue transforming their body’s and life.

Their line up of body transforming programs includes, ROCK That Body, Sizzlin’ Circuits, Core Plus More, Girl Empowered, Fat Loss Quickie, and More Love Less Fat.

We’re excited to share in you successful body transformation!

My friend and fellow body transformation coach Jackie aka Girlwithnoname recently interviewed me, while picking my brain on what workouts have been most effective for me, what I eat and the important role that nutrition plays in my body transformation, what I do for cardio, and how I stay motivated to continuously improve my physique and health.

You can download the interview by right clicking Body Transformation Audio

You can also listen to the interview by hitting the play button on the audio player below.

Enjoy the audio and be sure to let us know if there was a specific strategy or comment that resonated with you.

Also, be sure to visit Jackie’s Body Transformation blog and check out the great content that she shares there. I Guarantee that you’ll be hearing more and more from Girlwithnoname, as she is becoming a rising star in the fitness industry. She leads by example and settles for no excuses!

To achieving your limitless potential,

Scott Tousignant

About The Authors

Scott and Angie Tousignant have been helping busy men and women, just like you, transform their body and life for over a decade. This dynamic duo prides themselves on providing a balanced and practical approach that will motivate and inspire you to become the best YOU that you can be.

Scott and Angie have dedicated themselves to sharing their exact workouts, what they eat, and how they stay motivated to continue transforming their body’s and life.

Their line up of body transforming programs includes, ROCK That Body, Sizzlin’ Circuits, Fat Loss Quickie, and More Love Less Fat.

We’re excited to share in you successful body transformation!

Have I lost my mind? Maybe… and it’s all because cardio bashing has sunk to an all new low. But my loss in mental health is your gain, with the funniest fat loss video that I’ve ever created…

After being swarmed with a new wave of cardio bashing, I couldn’t help but make a comical video that demonstrates just how absurd some of these claims are.

Long duration cardio… love it or hate it, I totally respect your opinion. What I don’t respect is when a “fat loss expert” cherry picks data in an effort to mislead the public for the sole purpose of selling their program that is based on Interval Training.

What I don’t respect is when “fat loss experts” attempt to force their beliefs and opinions on others. It’s really getting to the point where I’m expecting to get a knock on my door and get handed a brochure that tries to persuade me to join the cardio bashing religion.

I just don’t get it. Interval training and High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) ROCKS! With all the benefits, especially for the average busy person, there should be no reason to bash other forms of training in order to prove that Interval Training is great. It’s kind of like one of the best politicians running a smear campaign rather than share the benefits that they bring to the table. It’s just plain slimy and sleazy.

The Latest Cardio Bashing Trend

We’ve all heard those four words uttered at one point… “Long, Slow, Boring Cardio”. eeeeeewwwwwww… I get chills just writing it. Sure, I can agree that to some people, cardio is boring, but many people absolutely love it. There are many cardio junkies in my neighbourhood who really enjoy it and look absolutely amazing. During the past year I’ve witnessed over a dozen people drop a significant amount of fat from running and training for either a half or full marathon. Even my sister has slimmed down after joining a running club.

I’ve pretty much become used to hearing hearing the long, slow, boring cardio phrase, although I still cringe when I hear fitness trainers say it. But what has totally shocked me recently is a bold statement that these cardio bashers have been using to force their beliefs on others…

“Everyone Hates Cardio!”

…Really? Everyone? Seriously? Please tell me that you didn’t just go there.

That’s beyond a total exaggeration… It’s a flat out lie! And if they are willing to lie about that, what else are they lying about and how else are they misleading you? Are they that desperate to get into your wallet and sell you their Interval based program?

In my opinion, cardio bashers have sunk to an all new low with this marketing message that has the sole purpose of selling their programs.

How Else Have You Been Manipulated By Cardio Bashers?

Well, for one, there is the unfair comparison of a marathon runner vs a sprinter. The claim… if you do cardio you will look like a frail marathon runner, but if you do short interval training you will develop the body of a sprinter. Since when did a 20-45 minute jog become a marathon? And if cardio really made you look scrawny and frail everyone who runs in a marathon should look like that right? Well have you ever watched a ‘non-Olympic’ marathon? You’ll see every body type imaginable out there. In fact, not many of them look like the image of the Finland marathon runner in this picture.

On the other side of the spectrum, to say that you’ll look like a muscular sprinter from doing short Interval Training workouts is a total exaggeration as well. Intervals will help you develop a great lean and athletic physique, but in order to pack on serious muscle like these Olympic level sprinters requires a heck of a lot more and a serious time commitment. Not to mention the possible addition of performance enhancing drugs.

The Flip Flop

Now here’s where it starts to get almost comical… These same “fat loss experts” who tell you that cardio will make you look scrawny and frail will tell you in the same breath that cardio will actually make you fatter. That’s two completely opposite ends of the spectrum.

So which is it? Will cardio make me scrawny or fat?

This is just another incident where “fitness expert turned infomercial marketer”, cherry pics data that will help hype up their own fat loss program.

In his book, The Body Fat Solution: Five Principles for Burning Fat, Building Lean Muscles, Ending Emotional Eating, and Maintaining Your Perfect Weight, Tom Venuto labels this type of misleading marketing as, “Information Isolation”. You can basically look at any study and pick a part of the data to help you make a bold claim. And as crazy as it sounds, you can come to multiple conclusions if you analyze the research carefully.

Be Cautious With The Message You Are Sending

I joked on my Facebook page about telling my 9 year old son that he’s wasting his time with long, slow, and boring jogging even though he was super excited about running in a cross-country race. That’s Shayne on the left and his buddy, proudly showing off their ribbons after completing the race. They enjoyed every second of it.

Now after hearing these all-time low cardio bashing statements that “Everyone Hates Cardio”, do I tell my kids that they are crazy for enjoying it and that they are the only ones in the world that experience the joy of running?

Does It Have To Be One Or The Other?

There are awesome benefits to Interval Training just as much as there are awesome benefits to incorporating long duration cardio into your body transformation program. Why do you have to pick one or the other, when they can actually compliment each other?

Angie and I on average do two days of long duration cardio and two days of HIIT in addition to three to five days of resistance training depending on the program that we are following and our goals. We’ve experimented with just long duration cardio as well as just HIIT on it’s own. What has won by a landslide was combining both HIIT and long duration cardio into our body transformation plan. The combination has prevented overuse injuries and made our training a heck of a lot more fun.

The Truth

Jogging is not the most efficient activity for burning fat and yes there are people who do not enjoy long duration cardio at all. If they don’t enjoy it, chances are pretty good that they won’t stick to their fat loss program. For these individuals, I recommend that you first experiment with a variety of long duration cardio exercises before completely giving up on them. I personally do not jog very often, but I have found that getting outdoors and biking is one of my most enjoyable forms of physical activity.

If you totally can’t stand all forms of long duration cardio and you are super busy, then Interval Training and HIIT are definitely the right options for you, as they are both time efficient and very effective at boosting your metabolism and burning fat.

Excessive amounts of cardio will increase your chances of losing precious muscle mass, which will lower your metabolism. That’s why it’s important to be clear with your goals and find the right balance between long duration cardio and HIIT.

Moderate amounts of cardio will help you create a caloric deficit, improve your cardiovascular health, and is a great stress reliever for many people.

Do Cardio, Gain Muscle?

Moderate amounts of cardio have even been shown to help increase muscle mass. Tom Venuto wrote an outstanding article titled, Do Cardio, Gain Muscle? after studying 20 research papers on the topic. I highly recommend that you take a few minutes to read it over. Tom is one of the most unbiased and sincere fat loss experts I know. He’s got your best interest at heart and is always looking out for you. Plus, he’s going to do what works best for transforming his body, which is a balanced and practical approach that burns fat and feeds his muscle.

I also recommend that you listen to the short interview that I did with Tom on what it takes to achieve Super Lean results… Super Lean Fat Loss Strategies. In this interview Tom shares his #1 workout strategy, #1 cardio strategy, and #1 motivation strategy to achieve an amazing body transformation.

Conclusion

You’ve got to do what’s right for you, is inline with your body transformation goals, and suits your lifestyle so that you can stick to an active and healthy lifestyle for the long term.

Don’t buy into the hype. Make an informed decision and be very cautious of hidden agendas from people who make such dogmatic claims.

You are the best judge as to what works best. Become a guinea pig and perform various protocol to see which strategies your body responds the best to. That’s what Angie and I do. We rarely take anyone’s word to heart until we’ve actually tested it on ourselves. We love to put bold claims to the test… and sometimes the bold claims are actually valid.

What’s Your Opinion

Now that I’ve shared my 2 cents and went on a bit of a rant, I’d love to hear your thoughts on the subject. Whether you are a hard core HIIT fanatic, a cardio junkie, or somewhere in the middle, your opinion matters and I want you to feel comfortable sharing it hear and spark a great discussion.

Share your opinion in the comment box below and let us know what has worked best for you or if you are more confused than ever

Angie and I also encourage you to share this post with your friends, family, and colleagues who may also have an opinion on the topic.

And, be sure to let me know if I totally lost my mind when I recorded the video When Angie saw me pull out my old school wrestlers and a Barbie doll, her exact words were, “I don’t even want to know” Ha! It sure was a lot of fun to make though

Alright, let’s get this discussion rock’n!

To achieving your limitless potential,

Scott and Angie Tousignant

If you want to firm your butt and tighten your thighs you are going to love this quick 10-minute workout, courtesy of my very good friend Scott Colby…

As much as I love going to the gym, it’s always great to see super-effective workouts that can be done just about anywhere, with no equipment necessary.

In addition to working your butt and thighs, you’ll also feel this workout in your abs and there is no doubt that your heart will be pumping.

If you’re not familiar with my buddy Scott I highly recommend that begin following his work. He’s always putting out quick workout videos for you to enjoy and he’s just an all around caring and passionate guy. We’re a lot alike in more ways than just sharing the same first name and hair cut I know that there are times when our readers get the two of us mixed up. He’ll get emails telling him that they love his wife Angie (which is actually my wife), and I receive emails about how much this particular reader enjoyed my workout in the Colorado mountains (which is where Scott lives)

I guess what I’m trying to say is that if my blog subscribers are continually getting Scott and I mixed up, he must be a pretty great guy eh???

If you enjoy the work that Angie and I do and you love our sincerity and ‘Realness’, you’ll love Scott Colby’s work to, as it totally compliments everything that we do.

…Scott even has his cats randomly hop into the video when he’s working out too

I’ve been receiving several emails from some of Scott’s “Ageless Abs” members, which is a currently a closed door fat loss program for men and women over 40. They have been raving about the program and the result that they’ve been experiencing. I think that’s really cool that people are so excited about the results that they are getting with a particular program, that they feel compelled to email other fitness experts and share these results.

Scott also has several fat loss audio programs that he has produced and an outstanding abs program called “My First Six Pack“. And just this past Summer he ran a really cool Rocky Mountain Adventure Bootcamp, which I’m kicking myself in the butt for not attending. Some really great breakthroughs occurred during that 3 day bootcamp.

I’ll be sharing more great workouts from Scott soon, but for now, enjoy this awesome butt and thigh workout and be sure to let us know how you feel after completing it.

To achieving your limitless potential,

Scott and Angie Tousignant

I have an awesome interview and success story to share with you today. The underlying principle is the importance of taking inspired and immediate action after consuming valuable fat loss information that has the potential to seriously transform your body.

The way that I look at it, there are two types of people when it comes to body transformations. There are the people who read book after book and are quick to jump on board with the latest hyped up fat loss program, yet they do nothing more than read. They may take some kind of action, but in the back of their minds they are thinking that “This will never work.” Unfortunately these people never achieve the body transformation that they desire.

Then there are the serious action takers. The people who read a book or listen to an audio and can’t wait to take action. They’ll hit pause on their mp3 player or bookmark a page so they can apply a new exercise technique or recipe. They seize the moment of inspiration and take immediate action. They’re not waiting for tomorrow, or Monday to come before they take action. They take action NOW! That’s why these are the people who become successful at reaching their body transformation goals.

When I think of the words, “Immediate and Inspired Action” I automatically think of our long time Fat Loss Quickie blog reader and friend Jackie aka “Girlwithnoname”.

Every time that Angie and I have ever conducted a webinar, live video broadcast, or teleseminar that Jackie has participated in, we could always count on her to apply the information during the broadcast and hear her feedback before the broadcast was done.

Jackie is an action taker and she has the results to prove it!

Angie and I have really enjoyed following Jackie’s journey and witnessing the opportunities that have come her way as a result of her actions and determination. Opportunities, such as working with some of the best fitness experts in the world.

Like many people who go through an incredible body transformation, Jackie was continually asked how she had achieved her awesome results. It came to a point where she was persuaded to start her very own video blog Girlwithnoname to share her fitness experiences. Her blog has quickly grown into an outstanding resource for men and women looking for a dose of inspiration and to receive an unbiased opinion on the latest fitness and fat loss info.

Jackie has gone from fitness trainee to fitness trainer. She has taken her passion for body transformations and helping others and turned it into a career. I love to see her impacting so many people in a very positive way. Her no excuses approach is contagious is the kick in the butt that you’ve been looking for.

Jackie is certainly not alone in making the transition from fitness trainee to certified fitness trainer. I read and listen to success stories every week about people who go through this same experience. They are all action takers. They are all passionate about sharing their journey. They are all excited about the opportunity to help others become the best that they can be. Like Jackie, these people are all proof positive that making your health and fitness a top priority will lead to wonderful opportunities in all areas of your life.

I was really excited to have the opportunity to interview Jackie and get her to dish out the inside scoop on what she did to transform her body, why she’s able to take such immediate action, how she overcomes obstacles, and what she’s learned from her amazing journey.

This is an outstanding 38 minute interview that I highly recommend you pop into your mp3 player and listen to while you do some cardio.

You can download the audio here: Body Transformation Interview: Girlwithnoname

In the interview Jackie mentions two fat loss programs, which have had a tremendous impact on her… Tom Venuto’s Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle and Mike Geary’s Truth About Abs. Those are two programs that I highly recommend as well and I can see why Jackie achieved such great results… she follows the best of the best and applies their tips and advice immediately.

I’m looking forward to hearing your feedback and what you take from this interview with Jackie. Please be sure to share your thoughts about the interview in the comment box below and let us know what you plan on taking immediate action on.

Also, please be sure to check out Jackie’s blog Girlwithnoname and let her know how she’s inspired you today.

Enjoy the audio!

To achieving your limitless potential,

Scott and Angie Tousignant

There is no question that High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) is very effective at burning fat and it’s a very time efficient form of exercise. But I believe the greatest benefit of HIIT is the “Fun Factor”. The chances of you ‘sticking with it‘ will skyrocket when you are having fun with your workout program.

Adding to the ‘fun factor’ is that HIIT can be performed in nearly limitless ways. You can easily mix up the interval times as well as the exercises. I feel that one of the funnest ways to perform HIIT is to get outdoors and perform hill sprints. It’s an incredible workout and you can incorporate a great deal of variety within the hill sprint session.

Check out the variety of movements that I incorporated into this recent hill sprint HIIT workout…

In this hill sprint HIIT workout I did:

There was no set time for the interval so I didn’t require a stop watch or Gymboss Timer. The work interval is done going up the hill (as long as that takes you), while the rest interval is done while you go down the hill (as long as that takes you). The only thing that I needed to know was when my 10 minutes was up. I was pretty fried at the end of the 10 minutes. Could I have pushed it to 15 minutes??? I’m not sure. If I dug deep I may have been able to

Mixing up your HIIT workouts is a great way to stimulate a positive change in your physique and your performance. You’ll also experience a significant and positive motivational impact when you add variety to your training, which plays a big role in exercise compliance.

So get out there and have some fun. Find the nearest hill and put the fun back into fitness.

To achieving your limitless potential,

Scott Tousignant

PS This hill sprint HIIT workout is just one of 60 fast and fun workouts from the Fat Loss Quickie program. With these quickie’s you’ll never be bored from working out ever again.

Our family spent some time at the park today running around and having fun. While we were there I did a quickie HIIT session on the hill and Angie did a fun HIIT workout on the park bleachers. What made it even more fun was that our son Shayne did the HIIT workout along side Angie.

It was spontaneous for Shayne to join Angie, but it really goes to show the impact that we have on our children. The example that we set is incredibly important to them. Check out Shayne and Angie in action..

Notice how Shayne wasn’t saying, “Awww, do I have to workout? Do I have to exercise?” It was natural and fun. When you’re active as a family time fly’s during the workout. You’re focused on the enjoyment rather than counting down the seconds until you are done.

The movements that Angie did on the bleachers were:

The working portion of the interval may not be as intense as an all out running sprint or all out sprint on a bike, but it really works and you definitely feel it by the end of the 10 minute quickie session.

Because the bleachers are short it keeps the intervals short too. A great way to mix up a bleacher HIIT workout would be to find bleachers of various heights and mix it up throughout the week. Eight steps vs thirty steps will definitely make a difference in your workout and both are great!

The cross-overs in this HIIT session work the inner and outer thighs really well, while the two footed jump can really target your butt and quads.

Give this fun HIIT workout a try and let us know how you enjoy it… and let us know if your family gets involved too. Fitness IS FUN!

To achieving your limitless potential,

Scott Tousignant

PS This HIIT session is just one of 60 different quick workouts from the Fat Loss Quickie Program. If you are pressed for time and you would like to add variety to your workout program, Fat Loss Quickie is the way to go!

High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) is an outstanding form of exercise to improve your fitness level, conditioning, and burn the fat from your body. This isn’t breaking news for many of our valued readers and fans. But HIIT has been around for much longer than the recent craze that’s been buzzing around the fat loss air waves over the past few years. It’s actually been an effective method of training for decades. It’s been all the marketing hype that’s created the widespread movement… and the controversy to go along with it.

If you’re not totally familiar with my fitness background, I received my degree in Human Kinetics with Honors in Movement Science from the University of Windsor back in 1999. A good chunk of my focus was spent on Sport Psychology and mindset, but a huge chunk of it was spent on Biomechanics, Anatomy, and Sport Physiology.

For extra credit we had opportunities to participate (be a guinea pig), in scientific research and studies. One of those studies that took place within one of my Exercise Physiology classes was on the topic of High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). The test was performed on a special stationary bike and we were instructed to go “All Out!” for the speed portion of the interval followed by slow pedaling for the rest interval. At the end of the test a blood sample was taken from us and our VO2 Max was measured as well.

During the test most of us felt nauseous and some of us either passed out, puked, or both. Sounds like fun eh At least it boosted our marks a bit All kidding aside I learned a great deal from this experience.

Since my University days, I’ve spent a fair amount of time reviewing the latest research on High Intensity Interval Training… mainly to clear up a lot of the controversy and go beyond the marketing hype and claims.

Some of the research that I’ve come across has been based on sprint/walk intervals such as a study out of Australia, which found that a 6 second sprint followed by 12 seconds of walking produced desirable fat loss results in their test subjects.

Much of the research on HIIT has been done by using some form of stationary bike. The duration of the work/rest intervals has varied, but some research has shown that the shorter intervals produce greater results, such as a study performed by Professor Steve Boutcher, the Head of the Health and Exercise Science program in the School of Medical Sciences at the University of New South Wales, Australia. (I’m not sure why the Australian’s have performed so much research on HIIT, but it’s great to see that their keeping at it.)

Professor Boutcher’s research found that performing HIIT with a work interval of 8 seconds and a rest interval of 12 seconds produced the most desirable results in their test subjects.

I’m not one to read a single research paper and base all of my philosophies on that one training protocol simply because it was shown to produce the best results. When I perform High Intensity Interval Training I mix up the length of the intervals. For example…

Work/Rest
10/20
20/30
30/30
60/60
120/120
20/10

The bottom line is that you too, should vary your protocol and see which strategies create the biggest impact on your body. With all this variety there is no reason for you to get bored with working out.

Since I brought up the word ‘boredom’, the thought of sitting on a stationary bike for 20-30 minutes may not be very appealing to you. It’s just about as appealing as running on a treadmill and staring at a wall. That’s why I love to perform a lot of my HIIT training on my outdoor mountain bike. It’s so much more invigorating for me to get outside, surround myself with nature, and feel the wind in my hair (oops… the wind over my bald head). I bring along a Gymboss timer to alert me for the interval splits. I set it to beep and vibrate just in case I don’t hear it when a car is passing by or the wind is too loud.

Unfortunately we get hit fairly hard by winter here in Canada and there are 4 months out of the year where I am forced to ride the stationary bike indoors. I don’t mind it too much. I pop in an educational audio in my mp3 player, watch part of a movie, or read a book. This makes it much easier and exciting to get on the stationary bike.

Stationary bikes are fairly inexpensive and you can program your desired intervals so it adjusts the resistance automatically. What I typically do is increase both my speed and resistance when I do the “working” interval on the stationary bike. This gives my legs a great pump.

Occasionally I perform running sprint/walk intervals, but running is very taxing on my joints and my body can usually only handle it twice per month. I do it for variety, but I truly love the bike intervals… plus, high intensity interval training on a bike has shown to be the most effective form of HIIT to burn belly fat.

In general, the HIIT methods that involve a great emphasis on the legs have produced the best results. So even walking up to the squat rack and performing High Intensity Intervals of Squatting/Light Marching can produce great results. Our Fat Loss Quickie members have performed a variation of this squat interval and they’ve had a lot of fun with it: 100 Rep Squat Cardio Challenge

A word of caution… be careful not to over perform these forms of HIIT. If you are performing your intervals on a bike or using exercises like squats and even sprints, your body will be taking a beating and you may not be giving it enough time to recover, especially if you are also performing a leg workout during the week. This is another reason for you to vary your intervals… to prevent over-training and injuries. The short sprint like intervals can be very taxing on your body and I don’t recommend performing them more than 3 times per week.

Ideally, Angie and I love to combine HIIT with long duration cardio throughout the week in addition to resistance training. As great as the claims are when it comes to HIIT, we find that some “Fitness Experts” get carried away and will prescribe that you only perform a 4 minute HIIT session following the Tabata protocol, just 3 times per week. They’ll go as far as saying that you are wasting your time if you train any more than that…

…well I don’t know about you, but speaking for myself, I need to workout a lot more than just 12 minutes per week in order to burn fat and sculpt my body.

Many of the studies that I have reviewed about High Intensity Interval Training have been performed over a 20-30 minute time period. So you’re basically looking at the same duration as you may perform a steady state long duration cardio session, but you are challenging yourself in a different way.

NOTE: Long Duration Cardio does not = Marathon

Angie and I love to perform quick 10 minute workouts, but our workouts are more frequent. We perform a 10-minute workout and a 10-minute HIIT session every weekday in addition to a few long duration cardio sessions. That’s what has produced the best results for us and it’s a small time investment.

This is what our Fat Loss Quickie program is based on… breaking your workouts into manageable 10-minute chunks. You can perform the quickie cardio and quickie workout back to back, but Angie and I, along with our members, have found that splitting up the workout and cardio session produces the most desirable results. For example, you may perform the 10-minute cardio session first thing in the morning and do the 10-minute quickie workout when you get home from work and before you refuel yourself at dinner. For optimal results you can add a few 30 minute bike rides or jogging sessions into the mix.

How Intense Is Intense?

That’s been a question that I’ve received frequently when I discus HIIT. As I mentioned above, when I participated in the research study we were instructed to go all out during the ‘work interval’. In other words, give it everything that you’ve got. The result… nausea, fainting, and puking. I don’t think that’s what you want to do after every HIIT session… correct?

For the past few years fitness professionals have been advising that you push yourself as hard as you can during the work interval, but not completely crazy all out where you are going to puke after. The harder that you push yourself, the shorter the duration that you’ll be able to last. That’s good news if you want to shorten up your workouts, but not everybody is willing to push themselves that hard.

GREAT NEWS…

New research has come about that has revealed that you don’t need to push yourself to the max during the working interval in order to produce awesome results. I must give credit to my buddy Tom Venuto for first bringing this to my attention in a well written article within his Burn The Fat Inner Circle.

Tom also published his insights to this research at on his Burn The Fat Blog, which I highly recommend you read: A Practical Model For High Intensity Interval Training

This was very welcome news for Angie and I as well as our Fat Loss Quickie members because the Fat Loss Quickie programs includes a mix of the Higher Intensity Cardio exercises such as jump squats and burpees, as well as cardio exercises that are not quite as intense, such as jumping jacks and skipping. Previously some “fat loss experts” shunned at the use of jumping jacks in a HIIT protocol because they are not intense enough. All that Angie and I knew was that it sure was working for us and our members and now there’s research to back it up.

Here’s two quickie cardio sessions that you can try out…

10-minute Shuffle Step Cardio

10-minute Outdoor Fun Cardio

So, what is the best way to perform High Intensity Interval Training?

As I have mentioned, it appears that intervals on a bike produce the best results, especially while following a shorter interval protocol, such as 8 seconds of work followed by 12 seconds of rest for a total duration of 20-30 minutes.

But, the best way to perform High Intensity Interval Training is to vary it up and include activities that you really enjoy into the mix. Doing intervals on my bike outdoors in my #1 HIIT activity, but I also enjoy doing intervals on a small hill at a local park. Some of my friends really love performing stadium stair running as their intervals, while others love doing their intervals while running around a local high school track. Rowing is another exercise that you can perform HIIT with and it’s very effective.

There is a group of people in my town that enjoy performing intervals in groups. This is a HIIT method that my coaches had us perform on my high school cross country team…

We would run in single file and the person at the back would sprint to the front of the pack and set the new jogging pace. Then the next person at the back would sprint to the front and set the jogging pace. This is a really fun way to perform HIIT because it’s in a group setting with social support tied into it. Other members of the group will motivate you to push yourself and sprint to the front of the pack. If the pace that you set at the front is too slow, everyone behind you will encourage you to pick up the pace. If you were running on your own, you may experience some times when you want to slow down or stop all together. In a group setting you need to keep up with the group. It’s one way to force yourself to progress and step outside of your comfort zone.

Mix this up with some fun and not quite as intense exercises, such as jumping jacks, skipping, mountain climbers, hip rotations, shuffle steps, cross country ski movement (on the spot), and other low impact exercises, and you have a recipe for success.

Of course, it doesn’t matter how great your HIIT protocol is if you have poor nutrition habits. Following a detailed and precision nutrition plan such as Tom Venuto’s Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle or his more advanced Holy Grail Body Transformation Program will ensure that you are achieving the maximum results possible with your training program and produce the sexy physique that you desire to sculpt.

What’s your favorite way to perform HIIT? Angie and I would love to hear from you. Share your thoughts on HIIT in the comment box below and let’s get a great discussion going.

To achieving your limitless potential,

Scott Tousignant

Every Tuesday I literally have an extra skip to my step…this is the night I get to go to my Zumba class. What is Zumba? It is an aerobics class but with a fun twist. This Latin dance workout originated in Colombia in the 1990’s. I love it for many reasons. Mainly, I love the dance moves, I love the music, and I feel so invigorated afterward! I just want to keep dancing. But, yet, it seems that there is something I’m not describing about this hour of my week… I think it’s the positive energy in the room. When I am in this class, I just feel so much happiness and joy. I’ve never experienced these feelings in any aerobics class before.

This workout class gives me a new and refreshing variety to my workout routine. I love all sorts of cardio and now I’ve found my new love. I seriously have a huge grin on my face the entire class because it is so much fun. Maybe it’s just me feeling this way, but I don’t think so because when I look around the room I see a crowd full of women all smiling.

I just felt I needed to share this with all of you because at times we all get into that ‘rut’ in our workout routine and all it takes sometimes is trying something new.

I strongly believe that the key to staying motivated with your workout schedule is to find the workout program and/or cardio that you LOVE TO DO. Once you achieve this, you will look forward to doing it and will stick with it for the long term.

Now… whoever said that FUN and SWEAT could not exist in the same sentence?

Have a great day,

Angie Tousignant
ISSA-C.P.T.

There are many great exercises and stretches that will help you avoid shin splints as well as recover from them, but today I am going to focus on a few that have helped me the most.

The first exercise to strengthen the muscles in your shins requires only a towel and a slippery surface such as laminate or ceramic flooring. Lay the towel on the floor and place the top half of your foot on the towel while you are barefoot. Use your toes to curl the towel in toward you. Repeat as often as possible. You should begin to feel a bit of a ‘burn’ in your shins.

For the second exercise, simply lay on a bed, on your tummy, with your feet just barely overhanging the mattress. Curl your feet toward you using the mattress as resistance,

Shin splints are usually a result of running, especially if you are new to running or having walked, jogged, or run in a while. It’s important to warm up prior to running. I like to roll my foot around to loosen up my ankles as well as stretch out my calve muscles.

Notice in the video that I performed the calve stretch with a straight leg and a bent leg. The straight leg stretches out the outer layer of the calve muscles (gastrocnemius) and the bent leg stretches the deeper muscle (soleus).

After a run I like to use the foam roller to massage my calves. I slowly roll along the foam roller from my ankle to the back of my knee, looking for tight or knotted areas. When I find a knotted area I hold it until the ‘mild pain’ subsides. Sometimes you will feel the muscle pulsating while you hold that knotted portion on the foam roller. That’s totally normal.

I hope that you enjoyed this short video demonstration that promotes lower leg health and how to avoid getting shin splints. If you have any questions or comments, please do not hesitate to post them in the comment box below.

To achieving your limitless potential,

Scott Tousignant