For years I neglected cardio of any kind. I was satisfied with a general Low Intensity Steady State (LISS) incidental cardio which I would glean from walking around my neighborhood in a fasted state. Cardio to me was hell. Running of any kind made me feel terrible and I never wanted it in my life.
Thats when I discovered sprinting. Sprinting was every thing I loved about fitness. It was fast, simple, and the fat burning results spoke for themselves. Instead of running for over an hour in order to burn some calories I could do 6 to 8 reps of about 50 yards. I had to locate an adequate field to sprint on, but overall I managed to lose 15 lbs of body fat one summer and I really enjoyed the running.
This proved to be unsustainable. As you can imagine, consistently getting that coveted place to sprint in was a challenge. Where I lived there was a community sports park with five or six large soccer fields. All of these fields were a dream to run on (carefully manicured and flat) but usually occupied by kids playing soccer for their homeschooling association. My desired two runs a week were never guaranteed and eventually I gave it up when bulking season came around.
It has been over five years since then, but I have never forgotten that summer. I was the leanest I have ever been and I had felt amazing. Three days a week I lifted weights and two days I was on the field trying making myself puke. I was a true fat burning machine and coupled with my paleo diet fat melted from me like ice entering the Suns atmosphere. I still do not have easy access to a field, but I have finally found a way to perform these HIIT workouts without ever leaving the gym.
The stationary bike.
Every gym has a room near the back where a couple dozen stationary bikes stand at attention. This is where Spin Class is held and though you may have never considered hoping on one allow me a moment to convince you that (depending on your goals) you should be incorporating this into your weekly lifting schedule.
Just like when I was sprinting a have a similar rep range on the bike. I begin by warming up my legs with a 5 minute warmer. After that I go as hard as I can for 30 seconds. Then I have a 90 second cool down followed again by 30 seconds of high intensity. This continues for 8 total reps and by the end I have a 3 min cool down. The total workout takes only 20 minutes and by the end I can barely stand.
I got this workout from the blog Abundant You. I follow along to their guided HIIT session. In all actuality you can do this however you like. Sometimes I do this HIIT session after my lifting and I feel adequately warmed up. Feel free to experiment. If you have an almighty Assault Bike then feel free to just go for 30 seconds and then rest for 2 mins. That was how I did my sprints back in the day and the results were fantastic. Do not overthink this.
[https://youtu.be/0L9BYzo98FA]
Times and Reps:
3 min warmup
30 secs full intensity
90 second cool down
Repeat the 30/90 for 8 repetitions and you are done!
Enjoy a 3 min cool down.
I only do this twice a week and so far the results have been great. Obviously sprinting is a superior workout but I also think that it is harder on the joints. The assault bike seems like a much more sustainable exercise and one which I will keep doing throughout the year even if I drop the session to once per week. Right now, I want to get stronger and lose some fat and the assault bike seems to fit the bill perfectly.
SWF 
Leave a comment