Help & Tips > Cut your workouts short with HIIT training
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Cut your workouts short with HIIT training
HIIT training might sound a little scientific or even a little painful, but there is no doubting its effectiveness.
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We all want results as fast as possible, and HIIT training allows this.
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Think about it, anytime you hear the promise of rock-hard abs in only two minutes a day it's hard not to be enticed just for a second at the promise of massive results in minimal time. But two minutes a day? I think we all know that it takes more time than that to claim our shredded washboard abs or perfectly flat stomach.
So how much time can it take to achieve the lean look that we desire? Well not that long if you follow the science of burning energy... I like the gym, sure, but I also like having a life outside the gym. I don't know about you, but I find it mind-numbing to sit on a bike or treadmill for an hour going nowhere. If there are faster ways to get the fat-loss job done, I for one am interested. Well, we are in luck. You see, the most effective exercise to reduce your body fat is also the fastest. You can get it all done in a fraction of the time if you employ the effective exercise principle of high intensity interval training, also known as HIIT. HIIT training means that you change the speed of your movement throughout your exercise session, and that for periods of time during your workout you move at a high intensity of effort. HIIT training can achieve the same levels of fat loss in 10 to 15 minutes as an hour of constant speed exercising. How is this possible if I am exercising for much less time? The key is that HIIT training stimulates the body is such a way that most of your fat burning is done after your workout finishes. In fact, this method of training can induce fat burning for up to 36 hours after you have hopped off the treadmill! That's what I call effective. It's all in the chemistry. When you are moving your body at a high intensity, rather than just plodding along in a trance-like state, your body produces extra amounts of the chemical catecholamine. Catecholamine is something we want to produce lots of, because it is the key ingredient that triggers your body to start burning fat for energy. So by the end of your workout, you have much more catecholamine floating around in your bloodstream, and your reward for this is on-going fat-burning. So as you drive to work, read the morning paper, check your emails, annoy your co-workers and set new company sales records, you are also burning fat and slowly but surely revealing your chiselled mid-section. Now that is a valuable multi-tasking. Here's a great HIIT training technique to get started with. It's called 40/20. What you do is move (walk, jog, run, cycle, cross-train, whatever) for 40 seconds at a moderate pace. Then you step it right up to an all-out effort, your maximum effort, for 20 seconds. And then back to 40 seconds at moderate, and so on. Do this for 10 to 14 minutes, depending on your level of fitness. And then enjoy sitting around for the rest of the day burning fat! |