Start This Now For a Flat Belly by Bikini Season

If you're looking to melt fat in time for bikini season, high-intensity interval training (HIIT) should be your new best friend. HIIT involves short bursts of exercise at almost your maximum effort followed by a recovery period, which helps you burn more calories in less time while also targeting belly fat. HIIT has also been shown to improve other aspects of your health like increasing your VO2 max and lowering your risk of diabetes.

The key to HIIT is to choose a short interval — like 30 seconds or a minute — and perform your workout at a high intensity. Follow up with a recovery period, such as jogging or rest, before moving to the next high-intensity interval. If you're new to HIIT, these treadmill interval workouts or this seven-minute HIIT circuit workout are both great places to start.

We love HIIT so much we created this motivational poster just in time for Spring. Print it, post it, and remind yourself to push a little harder during your next workout — just don't go overboard. HIIT may be an effective and time-saving way to lose weight, but you shouldn't trade all your workouts for an intense session. A recent study found that exercisers who did a HIIT workout every day for eight weeks had no improvement or a decline in their endurance levels vs. exercisers who only did HIIT workouts three times a week. This small study's finding is a great reminder that too many intense workouts in a row can be too exhausting and slower cardio or rest is just as important to your fitness routine to help your body recover and perform at its best.

Print out our HIIT poster here!