We all would concede that most people aren’t really fans of
long, monotonous exercise. I know I’m not. Still, it’s impossible to go to a
gym that’s not packed with people spending hours at a time on the various
treadmills and elliptical machines. Yet most of them aren’t there because they
enjoy it. They’re there because they think it’s the most efficient way to burn
fat and lose weight.
But here’s the thing, that’s not true. While the cardio
machines may tell you you’re staying in the ‘fat burning zone’ when you’re
running at 5.5 mph for 60 minutes, the truth is you’re burning less calories
overall than if you worked harder for a shorter amount of time.
If you’re like me, busy, busy, busy, then I know you want to
maximize the calorie burning effectiveness of your exercise time, and you can
actually burn more fat and calories when you work out for less time instead of
more. Because with high intensity interval training, you burn calories more
efficiently than you would by running for hours, and it takes way less time to
complete.
So what is HIIT? For those of you who don’t know, High
intensity interval training (HIIT) is an advanced form of interval training and
an exercise strategy alternating periods of short, intense anaerobic exercise
with less intense recovery periods.
In plain English, that basically means you’ll be working as
hard as humanly possible for a short amount of time, doing a recovery exercise
instead of resting, then working hard again. An entire HIIT session usually
only lasts for 10 to 30 minutes.
Here’s a closer look at why HIIT works more proficiently and
takes way less time to burn fat and calories than the cardio machines at the
gym:
1. Efficiency
You’ve probably realized this already but HIIT is one of the
most efficient forms of exercise you can do and that makes it perfect for: Busy
people, Lazy people, Efficiency aficionados, Anyone who wants to get in better
shape but doesn’t want to spend hours doing it. In fact, research shows you can
make more progress in just 15 minutes of HIIT than you can running for an
entire hour! HIIT will improve your VO2 max, too. According to a 2011 study
presented at the American College of Sports Medicine Annual Meeting, just two
weeks of HIIT improves your aerobic capacity as much as six to eight weeks of
endurance training!
2. Burn more fat
Looking to lose some extra body fat? Of course you are! HIIT
can take care of this faster than any other form of exercise. The effects of
all that hard work from HIIT actually kick your body’s repair cycle into hyper-drive
mode, meaning you actually continue to burn fat in the 24 hours after HIIT, not
just during your workout.
3. Burn more calories
Just 10 minutes of HIIT can burn more calories than a half
an hour on the treadmill. Plus, just as your body burns fat for 24-48 hours
after interval training, you’ll also burn more calories during the time after HIIT
as well.
4. Get a healthier heart
If you’re working hard enough during HIIT you should
actually feel like your heart is trying to jump out of your chest because it’s
beating so hard (the technical term for this is called the anaerobic zone). But
working this hard has it’s pluses, including being crazy good for your heart.
In one 2006 study, researchers found that after eight weeks of doing HIIT
workouts subjects could bicycle twice as long as they could before the study while
maintaining the same pace. Plus, it’ll keep your ticker running smoothly well
into old age.
5. No equipment necessary
One of the coolest things about HIIT is that you can still
get a killer workout even if you have absolutely zero equipment. That means
even if you don’t have access to a gym, don’t have a kettle-bell or resistance
bands, or if you travel a lot, you can still do HIIT. Sprints, burpees, high
knees, air squats – there are so many bodyweight possibilities for HIIT!
6. Lose fat, not muscle
Anyone who has been on a diet knows it’s nearly impossible
not to lose muscle mass along with fat when you’re cutting calories. But while
steady-state cardio seems to encourage muscle loss, studies show that both HIIT
and weight training preserve muscle mass while still ridding the body of excess
fat. And since muscles are way sexier than no muscles, this is pretty awesome
if you ask me.
7. Increase your metabolism
A faster metabolism means that you can eat more and your
body will still burn it off (sweet!). And HIIT will give that to you. Studies
show that HIIT stimulates production of your Human Growth Hormone (HGH) by up
to 450 percent during the 24 hours after you finish HIIT!
8. Don’t get bored
One of the biggest complaints I hear of long, steady
exercise is that no matter what awesome podcast or pumped up music the person
is listening to, they eventually get bored from working at the same pace for a
long period of time. But though I get bored quite easily, even I find it hard
to get bored with HIIT workouts. Since they’re constantly changing and always
forcing you to work as hard as possible, the workouts are over before you know
it and leaving no time for boredom. As a side note: if you are getting bored
during your HIIT workouts, it’s time to amp up your intensity level.
9. 100% portable
Since it’s such a simple concept, going at maximum effort
for a short period of time followed by a recovery period and repeat, you can
adapt HIIT to whatever time and space constraints you have. That means that
even if you’re in a tiny apartment, in the middle of the woods or on a rooftop
in Mexico, you’ll never have any real excuse not to do HIIT.
10. Push your limits
HIIT forces you to work harder than you ever thought
possible. It gives you the confidence you never knew you needed. It makes you
stronger and fitter than ever before. HIIT pushes your limits, which reminds me
of that quote, “You will never know your limits unless you push yourself to
them.” – Author unknown
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