Like the majority of us, we have been tricked at one point or another into these diet fads, pills, and other weight loss promotions to shred body fat. To put it simply, they don’t work. High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT), however, will be your best friend. These workouts are great for getting your heart rate up, sweating your butt off, and you won’t have to spend over an hour in the gym. Here’s why HIIT actually works.
Increase in Metabolism
When you perform a HIIT workout, it results in an increase in your metabolism. This is done through giving it your all for a quick period of time with specific intervals. This combination of intensity and intervals will result in EPOC (Excess Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption). To simply put this, you will have more oxygen in your body, which will increase your metabolism and burn fat. Even better HIIT workouts will continue to burn fat hours after your workout.
How to Perform HIIT
Performing a HIIT workout isn’t as complicated as it seems. To perform these workouts just think about working really hard (Get the Heart Rate Up), take short rest, and then work really hard again. This can be done as 30-45 seconds of all out work, followed by a minute rest, and then another 30-45 seconds of all out work. If you aren’t sure that you are doing this correctly, drop into one of your gym’s group classes and get a feel for it. A lot of gyms have group classes that fall into the category of HIIT.
HIIT All the Time?
Yes, HIIT is a great way to train and shred that stubborn body fat. However, you shouldn’t do these type of workouts day in and day out. HIIT workouts take a big tax on the body so make sure to mix in some strength specific training and cardio workouts. This will allow you to recover more efficiently to perform your next HIIT workout and continue burning fat.
Written by GUADS staff member Patrick with contributions from www.gethealthy.com
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