Lakewood Gyms and Personal Training: What is HIIT?

What is HIIT and should I be doing it?

HIIT - High Intensity Interval Training - is a workout that alternates between periods of high intensity exercise followed by lower intensity exercise or even rest. There are several, effective ways to implement HIIT and the benefits are as impressive as the workout is challenging!

1) More efficient use of your time - Studies show that 15 minutes of HIIT can burn as many calories as an hour of traditional cardio.
2) Improved aerobic and anaerobic capacity - ACSM found that just 2 weeks of HIIT was more effective than 8 weeks of traditional cardio and doubled the users ability to maintain top effort.
3) Revved up metabolism - Not only do you burn calories during the HIIT workout, you also burn calories after the workout - up to 48 hours after!

So you burn more calories during and after, increase your ability to sustain effort, improve your heart and lung function and spend less time working out. Its a win all around! Come talk to our trainers about HIIT and get yourself (and your loved ones) in one of our group classes to see what it is all about!

Visit our gym in Lakewood CO for Personal Training

Lakewood Gyms Offering Personal Training: Sleep and Exercise

Sleep and its effects on your body 

Sleep is an often overlooked part of everyones fitness routine.  A good nights sleep helps the body and mind recover, keeps us leaner, happier, more focused and healthy.  But bad sleep increases body fat, messes with hormones, ages us faster, increases chronic illnesses and reduces IQ.  So why do we overlook this important part of the day?  It is easy to stay up late watching tv - the bright light actually interrupts the circadian rhythm and reduces sleep quality. Or maybe its the overwhelming projects at work keeping you up.  But whatever the reason, it is sabotaging your hard work at the gym and defeating your positive eating habits.  7-9 hours of sleep is recommended, you may find that you can get by on less, but it is short changing yourself and will catch up sooner or later. 

How do you fix this?  The body loves routines - get yourself in one asap.  Create a pre bed process of gearing down. Try to limit caffeine and alcohol intake - caffeine after 4pm can interfere with falling asleep and excessive alcohol intake can effect deep sleep cycles.  Stop use of all devices with a screen 30 minutes prior to sleeping. The brain produces melatonin as light levels decrease. Melatonin regulates sleep and metabolism, so it is crucial to do what you can to keep level. Exercise has been shown to normalize circadian rhythms, regulate endocrine function and tone down sympathetic nervous system.  So come down to Absolute Personal Fitness and get your fitness dialed in and sleep on track.  We have several group classes, one on one training, yoga and massage to get you on track.  We look forward to helping you on your fitness path!  Visit our Gym In Lakewood CO Offering Personal Training or call 720-389-9696