Burst Training

Burst Training is highlighted as a “new frontier” in the fitness field. For instance, there was a small study published last year finding that people who did short-burst training for a total of 1.5 hours a week (including rest periods) achieved the same exercise-induced changes in their muscles over six weeks as people who did more traditional endurance training for upwards of 4.5 hours a week.

Burst Training is consisted of several maximum effort bursts of energy, which can be alternated between upper and lower body strength training exercises, core strengthening exercises, and/or aerobic sprints.

A sprint doesn’t have to be strictly running, it can also be any type of high intensity aerobic activity such as speed jump roping, steps ups in a short time frame, squatting lunges, stationary biking, or high intensity elliptical activity—the possibilities are endless if the correct intensity is implied.

The short bursts of exercise are intermittently followed by moderate bouts of rest which do not last longer than 30-60 seconds. Burst training only lasts 12-15 minutes, due to the nature of the intense activity; it will only need to be done 1-3 times per week. Your body doesn’t have the glucose stores to accommodate high intensity training for long periods of time, but rather was designed to handle short amounts of high intensity training. But if you can push the body to the breaking point of energy exhaustion you will not only burn up the sugar stores in the initial stages of the exercise, but also ultimately zap unwanted fat in the process.

A warm up period is essential for safety, and to alert you body that it is going to exercising. Warming up the muscles prepares them for the workload ahead, gets oxygen pumping into the blood and revs up the heart muscle.

Below are examples of Burst training exercises you can do during your short duration work-out.