WHY HIIT IS ONE OF THE BEST WAYS TO BURN FAT:
One of the most frequently asked questions relating to fitness is: “What’s the fastest way to lose fat?” Most people will point you to the trusty treadmill or stationary bike, but is that really the most effective way to lose fat?
What if I told you that you could potentially Burn Fat several times faster than jogging for an hour on an old treadmill?
No, I’m not talking about a magical pill that can solve all your fat-burning problems… I’m talking about HIIT!
HIIT stands for High Intensity Interval Training. The basic idea of HIIT is to alternate short bursts of a certain Exercise or activity at a high intensity with longer periods of active rest. For example, here’s what a typical HIIT session would look like:
- Sprint for 40 yards
- Jog/rest for 30 seconds
- Repeat for a total of 7 rounds
So what’s so special about this type of training? How is it better than simply jogging for a few miles?
Let’s back up for a second and talk briefly about traditional forms of Cardio. The most common type of cardio people do is called steady-state cardio (e.g. steady jogging, biking). Like any form of exercise, steady-state cardio elevates your metabolism, which causes your body to burn fat. Sounds great right? Not so fast. Research shows that steady-state cardio only raises your metabolism for the duration the workout. This means that once you finish your jog, you start losing that fat-burning effect almost immediately. Another downside is that the human body is such an efficient machine that it adapts to cardio. The more you do steady-state cardio, the longer you need to do it in order to get the same effect as before.
What may start as a 30-minute jog to burn a certain amount of fat will eventually turn into an hour-long jog just to burn the same amount!
Not only is this time-consuming, it’s just an inefficient method for Burning Fat. This is where HIIT comes in. Research has shown that when doing HIIT your metabolism is not only raised during the session but it STAYS elevated for up to 24 HOURS! So not only will you be burning fat while your sprinting, you’re burning fat while your eating dinner, watching TV, even SLEEPING. All of this can be accomplished with just doing sprints for 10-15 minutes. That definitely kicks the crap out of jogging on the treadmill for an hour! Another benefit is that it’s easy to keep HIIT interesting. Besides sprinting, you can choose many other exercises including the following:
- Biking
- Burpees
- Elliptical
- Box jumps
- Circuit training
- Kettlebells
So what are you waiting for? Go do some HIIT and watch all that unwanted fat melt off your body right before your eyes!
References:
Tabata, Izumi; Nishimura, Kouji; Kouzaki, Motoki; Hirai, Yuusuke; Ogita, Futoshi; Miyachi, Motohiko; Yamamoto, Kaoru (1996). “Effects of moderate-intensity endurance and high-intensity intermittent training on anaerobic capacity and VO2max”. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise 28 (10): 1327.doi:10.1097/00005768-199610000-00018. PMID 8897392.
Tremblay, Angelo; Simoneau, Jean-Aimé; Bouchard, Claude (1994). “Impact of exercise intensity on body fatness and skeletal muscle metabolism”. Metabolism 43(7): 814. doi:10.1016/0026-0495(94)90259-3. PMID 8028502
Boutcher, Stephen H. (2011). “High-Intensity Intermittent Exercise and Fat Loss”.Journal of Obesity 2011: 1. doi:10.1155/2011/868305
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