15 Minute Workout Plan to Burn Fat

Do you lack the patience or inclination to endure lengthy cardio sessions? Well, you are not alone and you need to learn about HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training), the best workout to burn fat. Currently trending at position 3, as per the American Council of Sports Medicine Report for the year 2016, HIIT involves exchanging the moderate, session of cardio with a short, but fast and furious style workout. Undoubtedly, HIIT is the best cardio for burning fat and this 15-minute workout plan burns belly fat and tones up muscles. Also, it promises to erase boredom associated with cardio. Till now, the only way to blast that stubborn fat resting on your abdomen was to pitch in endless hours of cardio at 60-70 percent of MHR (Maximum Heart Rate).  

Well, this made workouts boring, difficult to follow and with less than satisfactory results and the question remained how to lose belly fat fast.

HIIT changes the whole spectrum on cardio by putting weight loss on fast track. Unlike your regular cardio, it’s not a hike in the park, rather you invest your 90- 100 percent in the workout for a short duration, and a shorter rest period in between. The total workout lasts for just 15 minutes.   

SCIENCE OF HIIT

Putting it simply, HIIT alternates multiple short bouts of energetic cardio sessions with brief intervals of rest. Several notches above your average cardio session in intensity HIIT makes your heart work at its maximal capacity and increases your EPOC (excess post-exercise oxygen consumption rate) to fill in the oxygen debt post the strenuous workout. The very process makes you a lean mean fat burning machine because your body burns fatty acids (triglycerides) the secondary source of fuel while you are recovering from the oxygen debt with increased EPOC.

The fitness enthusiasts would know that glycogen or long chain glucose is the primary source of fuel for muscles during high-intensity workouts, but to burn fat, the body should switch to triglycerides as the source of fuel. 

Research studies prove that HIIT is more efficient at fat burn as compared to a regular session of cardio. One of the earliest studies, on HIIT lasted for 15 weeks as compared to the steady-state cardio for 20 weeks. The moderate cardio group burnt 15000 calories more than the HIIT group, but those who were on HIIT program lost more body fat.

Even in an 8-week program, HIIT has been a clear cut winner.  The study was conducted at East Tennessee State University and the subjects who were on HIIT program dropped more body fat, versus those who plodded through steady state cardio.

TOP 5 HIIT WORKOUTS

Well, HIIT can be any workout as long as it is unforgiving and pushes you to your max. Since it is a fearsome exercise, you need to prep your body before you embark on a strenuous activity. Warm up with light stretches, light movements, before you amp up the intensity of your workout to reduce the risk of injury.

 Tabata discovered by Japanese scientist Dr. Izumi Tabata and a team of researchers from the National Institute of Fitness and Sports in Tokyo is a typical HIIT workout featuring exercises that do not last beyond 4 minutes. The HIIT Tabata workout goes like:

• Workout hard for 20 seconds
• Rest for 10 seconds
• Complete 8 rounds

During these 20 seconds, you have to actually push yourself to the max. You can do squats, push-ups, burpees or any exercise during Tabata workout but with a MHR of 90-100 percent. 

A Tabata workout will be like:

• Push-ups (4 minutes)
• Bodyweight Squats (4 minutes)
• Burpees (4 minutes)
• Stationary Bike (4 minutes)

Get started with pushups. Do for 20 seconds with vigorously, rest for 10 seconds and complete a round. Repeat in the same way for 8 rounds. Move to bodyweight squats, burpees and stationary bike in the same way. In totality, you will be doing 32 rounds of 20 seconds of workout where you will pour your heart and soul in the workout. By the end of the session, you are too drained to move a muscle for a while.

BENEFITS OF TABATA

In a research study, Tabata and his team compared two groups of athletes doing moderate-intensity cardio for one hour  (5 days a week for 6 weeks) versus Tabata work out (4 days a week for 6 weeks). The moderate group increased their cardiovascular strength, but had no improvement in their muscle mass or tone. Tabata group showed more improvement in their cardiovascular fitness and had 28 percent improvement in their muscle mass.  

Sprint Fartlek workout

In Swedish Fartlek means ‘speed play’. This form of exercise stresses aerobic and anaerobic systems by running at a fast, low and medium pace. Swedish coach Gosta Holmer developed fartlek sessions to train cross country runners. The sessions were designed in such a way that they should cause the athletes to work 60 to 80 per cent of their maximum heart rate. The initial sessions were as follows

• Warm up: easy running for 5 to 10 minutes.
• Steady, hard speed for 1.5 – 2.5 kilometres); like a long repetition.
• Recovery: rapid walking for about 5 minutes.
• Start of speed work: easy running interspersed with sprints of about 50–60 metres (160 – 200 ft), repeated until a little tired.
• Easy running with three or four “quick steps” now and then (simulating suddenly speeding up to avoid being overtaken by another runner).
• Full speed uphill for 175-200 metres (574 – 656 ft).
• Fast pace for 1 minute.
• The whole routine is then repeated until the total time prescribed on the training schedule has elapsed.
• 100 meters of walk back sprint

Basically, it’s sprinting for 100 meters and walking back to the starting point. The sprint allows your heart to work at its maximal capacity. Walking back to the start point lowers the pace and permits you to rest and recover from your high-intensity workout. Repeat four times to get the advantages of HIIT.

Jump Rope Workout

Jump rope is an effective cardio exercise that works your arms, legs, and core. It also helps strengthen your bones and improves balance. To get the HIIT benefit, skip for 2 minutes and drop the amount of skipping by 30 seconds in each rep. By the time your set is complete, you’ve made four reps of 2, 1.5,1 and 0.5 minutes each.  The amount of rest is equal to the amount of exercise.

15 Minute Plyometrics Plan

Designed by Equinox’s Stephanie Vitorino, creator of the best-selling VBody DVD series—Plyometrics engages high-intensity exercises to get the fat-burning job done fast. These super-efficient exercises require muscles to exert maximum force in minimum time. Learn the technique carefully before you embark on the plyometrics plan

• Do 15 reps of jump squats. Rest 30 seconds.
• Complete 24 reps of jump lunges. Rest 30 seconds
• Repeat for 5 rounds.
• By the last set, you may feel your legs are on fire.

If you are worrying how to lose belly fat fast, 15 minute HIIT belly fat blast workout is for you. Drop excuses and begin to HIIT to take your fitness quotient several notches higher. Not only will your fat level drop, but your body will begin to detoxify itself as an added bonus.