What intensity should you workout at for maximum results? We unpack the types of workouts and intensities to help you choose what’s best for you.
When it comes to hitting up the gym it can be difficult to know what intensity you should work at. Kim Beach is here to help us determine what’s best for the results we’re looking for.
Walking VS running
Walking – promotes fat loss, bone strength and cardiovascular fitness
When it comes to walking, it is a great form of exercise as pretty much anyone can do it. But if you have chosen this as your form of training, you need to keep pushing yourself in order to get results and also you need to walk regularly.
Running – promotes fat loss, bone strength and cardiovascular fitness
Running expends more energy and is a great fat burner and a fantastic way to increase your fitness level. It does, however, put you at risk of an injury as it can put a lot of stress on your joints; so incorporating lots of stretching and massage is a good idea if you are running regularly and especially if you are running long distances.
Steady-state cardio VS HIIT
Steady-state cardio and HIIT both improve your heart health. As your heart is a muscle, making it work harder will make it stronger. Also, after you have finished a session of either steady-state cardio or HIIT, your body will produce feelgood hormones called endorphins that will make you feel amazing.
Steady-state cardio – promotes fat loss and cardiovascular fitness
Steady-state cardio is great for burning more EPOC while exercising as well as improving your fitness level. This is a great form of exercise that can be enjoyed with friends and generally is done over a longer period, between 40 to 60 minutes.
HIIT – promotes fatloss and toning
HIIT training is great at increasing your fitness level and burning fat as, once you have finished your training, your EPOC will be elevated during the day. This type of training is generally quick; 15 to 20 minutes of sprints, skipping, etc. is usually adequate.
Bodyweight strength training VS weights
Bodyweight – promotes toning, bone strength, muscular strength
Bodyweight strength training is great depending on what your goals are. It is great at improving strength and getting your heart rate up and the added bonus is you can pretty much do it anywhere and it is not expensive. It also requires a great deal of core stability as you don’t have the support of pieces of equipment to rely on.
Weights – promotes toning, fat loss, bone strength, cardiovascular fitness, muscular hypertrophy and muscular strength
Training with weights will enable you to build muscle faster than you would with bodyweight training as you can endure heavier weights, which will have a huge impact on increasing your strength. Weight training is also an amazing fat burner as the more muscle you build on your body, the more energy you will burn at rest while your body works harder to maintain that muscle.
Supersets VS splits
Supersets – promotes toning, fat loss, bone strength, cardiovascular fitness, muscular hypertrophy and muscular strength
This type of training is great at building strength and burning fat, providing volume and intensity while potentially saving you time in the gym. They’re also a great way to get your heart rate up during a weights workout and contribute to increasing your fitness level.
Splits – promotes bone strength, muscular hypertrophy, muscular strength
There can be many different varieties of split programs and the benefits are to overload specific muscle groups on different days to build lean muscle and to rest particular muscle groups on other days so they can recover and grow while you are focusing on another muscle group.
