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Are you exercising for long periods of time to try to burn
fat? If you're like most people you probably are, but there is a
better way. It's called "high intensity interval training" (HIIT)
and lately it has started to become pretty famous for its
obvious health benefits.
--So What Exactly Are The Benefits?
1. Major Increase in Fat Loss. In a study done by Tremblay et
al, two groups were assigned different training regimines. Group
A performed the regular moderate intensity cardio (like jogging
or bicycling) for 20 weeks and Group B performed a HIIT routine
for 15 weeks. In the end the results of each group were
recorded. Group B lost nine times more fat than Group A and in 5
weeks less (1)!
2. Increased Lactic Acid Threshold. Lactic acid is that
burning sensation you feel when you work a muscle really hard.
You're lactic acid threshold is how fast your body can remove
the lactic acid in your muscles. The higher the lactic acid
threshold, the harder you can work your muscles before they get
tired.
3. Increased peak power, or the maximum amount of energy
available for a sustained period of time (2)(3)(4).
4. Increased VO2 peak or ability to utilize oxygen (2).
5. Shorter Workouts. I don't know about you, but would you
rather spend 30 minutes to an hour jogging along the road, or
crank it up a notch and just spend 4-8 minutes performing
sprints?
--So Why Does This Burn more Fat than just Jogging?
Although HIIT is much shorter than a normal "run for 30
minutes" workout, it burns more fat. To put it simply, after
your HIIT training session is over with your metabolism explodes
and tons of calories are being burned. So essentially with HIIT
training, you burn most of the fat after your training session.
--So How Exactly Do I Perform This?
Simply put, HIIT is based around this concept: Go fast then
go slow. Repeat. You can perform HIIT routines on pretty much
any machine you want like a treadmill, elliptical machine,
cycling machine, or apply it to almost any sport (swimming,
cycling, running). Try to keep the bursts of speed at around
90%-100% of max effort.
Here is a sample HIIT routine:
Sprint 20 Seconds
Rest 10 Seconds
Repeat 4-8 Times
Or
Sprint 15 Seconds
Rest 5 Seconds
Repeat 4-6 Times
These are just samples, you can change it however you want
(you could even use distance instead of time), but remember,
HIIT is based around the concept of fast bursts of work. Also,
to continually challenge yourself you should add to how many
times you repeat the cycle. Say for instance day one you repeat
the sprint/rest cycle 8 times, well the next time you should
shoot for 9 times. Also remember the amount of time you sprint,
rest, and the amount of times you repeat the cycle should depend
upon your athletic ability.
If you havn't trained at a high intensity since your high
school gym days, take it slow at first. If you have to start at
80% intensity and perform less cycles that's O.K. too. Everyone
has to start somewhere. You may also want to check with your
doctor before performing a routine like this as it is very
physically demanding.
If you want some more tips on how to break through fitness
plateaus, techniques to become more flexible, want to learn what
and how to use "speed effort" and "dynamic weight" , get free
book and product reviews check out www.freefitnesstips.info.
(1) Tremblay, A., J. Simoneau, and C. Bouchard. Impact of
exercise intensity on body fatness and skeletal muscle
metabolism. Metabolism. 43:814-818, 1994.
(2) Laursen PB, Blanchard MA, Jenkins DG. Acute
high-intensity interval training improves Tvent and peak power
output in highly trained males. Appl Physiol. 27:336-348, 2002.
(3) Truijens MJ, Toussaint HM, Dow J, Levine BD. Effect of
high-intensity hypoxic training on sea-level swimming
performances. J Appl Physiol. 94:733-743, 2003.
(4) Lindsay FH, Hawley JA, Myburgh KH, Schomer HH, Noakes TD,
Dennis SC. Improve athletic performance in highly trained
cyclists after interval training. Med Sci Sports Exerc.
28:1427-1434, 1996.
Nathan Latvaitis is an avid fitness researcher. He believes
that through knowledge, anyone can achieve their goals. Nathan
runs a website at
FreeFitnessTips.info which offers a free 6 day course
offering just that - knowledge. |
