ShareYou might be surprised this sentence is coming out of my mouth. Or I’m typing it. Whatever, you get it. Yes, this is the real deal. It’s not a typo and I’m dead serious about this.
Even though my workouts and philosophy is all about trying to accelerate fat loss, sometimes high intensity training is not the best approach, and it’s a bad idea to incorporate in your program.
If you fall into any of the following three categories, think twice before diving into intense high intensity training:
1. You’re a Beginner
Are you new to training? Like brand new first day of school?
High intensity training for absolute beginners is NOT a great idea.
Why?
First, you need to build a foundation of strength and technique before adding high intensity and speed to the equation.
As a beginner, you need to work on form and strength before starting this style of training.
The reason being, unless you have good form, co-ordination and strength to perform the exercises, you won’t be able to train with the right level of intensity to get the desired metabolic training effect.
Here’s an analogy…
Compare this to learning how to drive a car. Do you go out speeding around town on your first lesson?
Probably not… I hope!!
First day, you learn the ropes about how the car works, and then take it slowly. You go out on the road with your brave mother or father, scare the bejeezuz out of them the whole time, and gradually build your confidence.
You build a foundation of skills… first.
With practice you get up to speed and before you know it, you’re racing around town.
As a beginner, think about high intensity training the same way.
Imagine if the short metabolic workout calls for you to do squats or mountain climbers for 30-45 seconds in multiple rounds. However, after the 10th rep of a basic bodyweight exercise, your form starts to get sloppy and you get so fatigued you can’t do anymore.
You won’t be able to perform enough work to create the desired metabolic response, which means you won’t adapt or make progress.
Bad news.
Here’s what you need to do instead…
Build your skills, and foundation of strength and co-ordination before you try high intensity training. This can take anywhere from 2-6 weeks, depending on exercise history, injuries and consistency.
The best approach is to use a program like Bodyweight Cardio 300 to learn the skills you need – or you can do traditional interval training on a bike. Yes, this is high intensity but anyone can ride an exercise bike, so there are no issues with co-ordination.
After a 5 minute warm up, do 4-6 sprints at a work to rest ratio of 1:2 (for example sprint 30s, rest 60s). This is an awesome starting point.
2. After an Extended Holiday
Taking time out whether due to injury, boredom or any other reason, you can’t just pick up where you left off.
In a measly two weeks of time-out of the game, you can lose your fitness gains. Yes, I know it’s unfair and totally sucks.
Why is it so important to start slowly?
Your body needs time to adapt to the workload, particularly the ligaments and tendons. Your muscles adapt, grow and repair much faster than the fibrous tendons and ligaments, so you need to strategically increase workout volume and intensity to avoid injury – particularly if you’re a beginner.
If you’re coming back from a year of ten slumber from exercise or you are a first time bootcamper, one of two things could happen:
(a) The high intensity workout will be SO intense you will hate it and never want to come back. Combine intensity with friendly competitiveness and trust me, it’s bad news.
Yep, this happened to me recently. It seemed like such a good idea at the time but I almost threw up and bruised my ego. It wasn’t pretty.
(b) You’ll get injured. Again. Not cool and definitely not a way to accelerate fat loss.
As a first timer, jumping straight into advance high intensity workouts, like a bootcamp with your friends is a recipe for disaster. Modify your workout, which any good bootcamp instructor will help you with, and be careful not to go overboard with the plyometrics (jumping). Losing your focus for one second is all is takes for you to get injured.
Strategically ease your way back into your high intensity workouts. Focus your energy on correct form and shorten the work intervals. The good thing is, despite taking a time-out, you will be back up to speed faster than if you were staring brand new again. See, there is hope for you.
3. You Have an Insane Fever
I’m not a doctor, but I’ve read plenty of research. The general rule for working out when you feel under the weather is:
Below the neck = proceed with caution
(modify your workout intensity and always proceed with caution)
Above the neck = rain check
The reason being, if you have a fever, your internal thermostat is malfunctioning and there are a bunch of unusual chemical reactions going on in your brain (that’s why you feel freezing even if you have a temp of 104 degrees).
When it comes to working out even with a slight fever, you are generating heat and your thermostat is unable to correctly measure your body temp and adjust accordingly.
So basically, you run the risk of frying your brainz. This is really serious. No workout is worth permanently damaging yourself and cooking your brainz. Take a time out, rest up and come back when you’re feeling stronger.
Cabin fever is different and not included here. In fact, I believe high intensity training is an awesome fix for cabin fever.
Another thing to note: This guideline does NOT include hangovers. If you spend the evening drinking too many beverages with your buddies, it’s no excuse to skip your workout. Drink plenty of water and push through it.
If it’s any consolation, while you may feel like hell during your session, you’ll feel better afterwards and learn the hard way to never “accidentally” do that again…
The Final Word
High intensity training is not suited to everyone… and these are three good reasons to give it a pass.
However it’s only temporarily.
Learn the basic skills of the main exercises, like the ones I teach in Bodyweight Cardio and get up to speed with your strength training, first.
If you want a step-by-step, 4 week guide with the PERFECT interval program for ANY fitness level to accelerate your fat loss and boost calorie burning, check this out:
==> 10 minute bodyweight HIIT workouts
Remember, always play it smart and stay safe.
Have an awesome day!
KV
