Peak 8 Interval Training – The fastest way To Build Muscle, Lose Fat and Boost Your Energy Level

To lose weight and body fat, most people know that interval training is best.  Interval training is a type of physical training that involves bursts of high-intensity work interspersed with periods of low-intensity work.  The high-intensity periods are typically at or close to near maximum exertion while the recovery periods may involve rest or activity of lower intensity.  In Episode 8 of my Six Weeks to Fitness podcast, I discuss Peak 8 Interval training with Certified Nutrition and Diet Specialist, Orvel Douglas here if you would like to listen to the podcast.

If Aerobic exercise is so good why am I not seeing any results?

We have become accustomed to believing that doing some type of aerobic exercise for an hour or more is the best way to lose weight but that is not the case.  If you go to any gym the most used equipment is the cardio equipment and the people showing the least improvement in their bodies are the same people running on the cardio machines.  If you’re serious about losing weight and toning your body in a short amount of time, I highly recommend “Peak 8 Interval Training. Every client I introduced to Peak 8 has seen positive results in a matter of a few short weeks and this is NO exaggeration.

The reason why I am so enthusiastic about Peak 8 Interval Training is that it can actually increase your natural production of Human Growth Hormones (HGH) and the entire workout is only “20 minutes long”.

The HGH Factor

You see, as we age our body does not produce enough HGH, which is needed to maintain a healthy body. An increase of human growth hormones in the body helps to keep the muscles strong, burn fat and slows the aging process.

In order to better grasp the benefits of Peak 8, you first need to understand that you have three different types of muscle fibers: slow twitch, fast twitch, and super-fast twitch. And only one of these muscles will impact your production of HGH.

The vast majority of us, including many athletes such as marathon runners, only train using their slow muscle fibers, which has the unfortunate effect of actually causing the super-fast fibers to decrease or atrophy.

In fact, neither traditionally performed cardio nor strength training will work anything but your slow muscles fibers. Next, you have the fast type of muscle fibers which is five times faster than the slow fibers. Power training, or plyometric burst types of exercises will engage these fast muscles and finally you have the super-fast muscle fibers.  These muscle fibers are what you use when you do anaerobic short burst exercises.

Peak 8 Interval Training will engage these super fast fibers. They’re ten times faster than slow fibers, and this is the key to producing growth hormone!

What you can expect to see from Peak 8 Interval Training:

Once you regularly participate in these 20 minute exercises about twice a week, you will notice the following benefits:

• Decrease in body fat
• Weight Loss
• Dramatically improves muscle tone
• Firms your skin and reduces wrinkles
• Boosts your energy and sexual desire
• Improves athletic speed and performance
• Allows you to achieve your fitness goals much faster

Now that I “peaked” your interest into Peak 8 training, let’s discuss how it is performed.  First of all, you can perform this exercise while walking or running or if you prefer to use equipment, a treadmill, elliptical or stationary bicycle will do just fine.

Peak 8 – Routine

Warm up slowly for three minutes

1. 30 seconds FLAT OUT sprint / 90 sec complete recovery (keep moving slowly)
2. 30 seconds FLAT OUT sprint / 90 sec complete recovery (keep moving slowly)
3. 30 seconds FLAT OUT sprint / 90 sec complete recovery (keep moving slowly)
4. 30 seconds FLAT OUT sprint / 90 sec complete recovery (keep moving slowly)
5. 30 seconds FLAT OUT sprint / 90 sec complete recovery (keep moving slowly)
6. 30 seconds FLAT OUT sprint / 90 sec complete recovery (keep moving slowly)
7. 30 seconds FLAT OUT sprint / 90 sec complete recovery (keep moving slowly)
8. 30 seconds FLAT OUT sprint / 90 sec complete recovery (keep moving slowly)

End with a two-minute cool down

The actual sprinting totals only 4 minutes!
Be mindful of your current fitness level and don’t overdo it when you first start out.

If you are not in good condition, you may want to start with just two or three repetitions, and work your way up to eight, which is where the magic really starts to happen. You may need to start with just walking and when it becomes time to do your 30 second bursts, try walking as fast as you can without running.  Your body will let you know when you can step up the pace.

To maximize your growth hormone release you need to:

• Get a good night’s sleep
• Avoid a high fat meal prior to exercising
• Drink plenty of water
• Eat healthy carbs (think vegetables) and high quality protein
• Avoid sugar, especially fructose

Please note, if you consume sugar or fructose, especially within two hours post-exercise, you will totally slow down the production of growth hormone!

This is yet another example of why gulping down sports drinks that are chock full of high fructose corn syrup can do your body more harm than good, and will just shut down your body’s production of HGH and negate many of the benefits from your exercise.

Give it a try and let me know your thoughts by leaving your comments below.

Vince Ferguson