Obesity, as we all know, has become a national phenomenon with most Americans now. Most people also know that it is possible to get rid of all the excess fat through rigorous workouts. We also know that very few of us can spare so much time for shedding fat on a daily basis, since it is spent on more important issues such as earning our daily bread or spending time with the family or friends. But what we do not know is that, we can achieve our objective in half the time, if we opt for HIIT or high intensity interval training.
What exactly is high intensity interval training? This training method consists of two essential words, namely “Intensity” and “Interval”. In practical terms, it stands for intensive workouts that are carried out for shorter periods of time, and these are alternated by less strenuous episodes of training.
The Difference between High Intensity Interval Training and Other Exercises
HIIT basically aims at getting your cardio through shorter but more vigorous workout sessions that are alternated by lesser strenuous ones. This can be put into practice for biking, running, swimming, rope jumping, and even while using the elliptical machine. But there is a difference in the way you do it with HIIT.
Instead of running at a steady pace all the while, you break into sprinting (after the usual warm up) for 15 to 40 seconds, and then return to the normal or slower pace for a minute or two. Follow this pattern for 6 to 10 intervals as you did when you learnt your ballroom dancing (slow, quick, and slow). However, you should never do this type of intensive workout for more than 20 minutes, as that will be enough to take care of your excess fat. May be two to three days a week could be a normal routine for most of us.
Let us now get into the science of the high intensity interval training system to know how it works for most of us.
In any usual workout process, for instance, when you are running long distance at a steady speed, your body will enter into a steady state. This means that, the body will be trying to conserve the calories to sustain the marathon. Because of this, your objective gets partially lost. But when you start high intensity interval training, your body does not get the opportunity of reaching the steady state, and so, does not think of conserving any energy or the calories. As a result, the calories are automatically spent in the process.
Yet another benefit that can be derived from high intensity interval training concerns your rate of metabolism. The fact is, the rate is sure to go into an overdrive, and so, you will be burning calories even after the workout is over. This happens because of a process that is known as the “Post Exercise Oxygen Consumption” or EPOC. As an aftereffect of HIIT, your body will need more oxygen, and this in turn will burn fat, even when you are reading a newspaper after have completed exercising for the day.
Posted by : Plernpit
Posted on : Thursday, June 16th, 2011 at 12:41 pm
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