What’s the fastest way to lose fat while improving your cardiovascular fitness?
High Intensity Interval Training, otherwise known as HIIT. Many people think that you have to spend endless hours on a treadmill or bike to achieve your ideal physique, but nothing could be further from the truth.
What is HIIT?
HIIT is an intermittant cardiovascular workout performed at a high intensity. HIIT consists of short, intense, bursts of movement followed by periods of rest, repeated X number of times. A classic example is to sprint up hill (or up steps) for 30 seconds then let your heart rate recover for 90 seconds. This is a basically a 20 minute workout consisting of ten 30 second sprints with one and a half minutes of rest in between. Keep in mind that the goal is intensity not duration. You want to sprint as hard and fast as you can, not hold back or pace to “save yourself,” so you can do more.
HIIT can be done in a variety of ways, but the traditional way (which I discuss here) is to use intervals for sprinting, whether on a track, on a bicycle or in a pool.
Why is HIIT so effective at fat loss?
Because HIIT causes a phenomenon called EPOC, or excess post-exercise oxygen consumption. After you perform high-intensity exercise, such as sprinting on a stationary bike, your body continues to need oxygen, leaving your metabolism elevated for hours after your workout before it returns to normal. Originally referred to as “oxygen debt,” EPOC is the term researchers now use to describe the events that occur as the body returns to homeostasis.
Research suggests that high-intensity training “disturbs” the body’s homeostasis, throwing the body off its normal balance. This results in a larger energy requirement after exercise to restore the body’s systems back to normal. This energy expenditure causes a significant increase in fat loss which makes HIIT the most effective method for fat loss.
Next I will show you how to combine HIIT with resistance training so you get the benefits of metabolic and resistance training in one package!