Training Types

Training is the core of the exercise industry. While diet, sleep and recovery are important, training is the biggest and most well-known aspect of an athlete’s everyday life. Due to the commercialization of sports, the exercise industry – instead of nutrition – is what is advertised to have the most impact on living a healthier life. While varsity athletes train differently than a 40-year-old mother of two, every person has the capacity to better their quality of life through several different methods of training and exercising.

Steady-state training is a method typically used for cardio training. Cardio training — also known as aerobic training — has an end goal of raising your heart rate. As your heart rate rises, you start to burn fat by using energy from your last meal or fat storages. Steady state is non-stop cardio exercises for a period of time (typically 30 – 60 minutes).

While steady-state is hugely beneficial for endurance athletes, High Intensity Interval Training is proven to be much more beneficial for long term muscle growth and fat loss. High intensity interval training uses periodic work and rest intervals to spike and lower the heart rate in order to use maximum energy to burn fat.

Strength and conditioning training – also known as resistance training – is a wonderful way to build muscle and increase metabolism. This is the most beneficial way to burn fat, as an increased metabolic rate in turn burns more calories per day, and you will begin to start cutting into fat storages. Muscles are built from protein, so by lifting heavy weights and eating protein, you are able to rebuild muscles and thus burn into the storages further by breaking down fat deposits and replacing them with muscle.