High intensity interval training, also called HIIT, is a great way to lose weight in a hurry. The thing is, most people mistakenly assume that there is a positive relationship of time spent on the treadmill or in the gym with how much weight you lose. This is actually incorrect, and I’m going to tell you why. Intense exercise burns more calories than moderate exercise, that much makes sense. However, what you probably don’t realize is that the difference is so extreme that 20 minutes of intense exercise could burn just as many calories as one hour of moderate exercise could. Just imagine the impact of saving 40 minutes every day by changing your workout routine?
So how does it work? Well basically, HIIT employs a periodic interval set where you rotate between high intensity and moderate intensity exercise. You can do this with nearly any type of exercise as well, which means it works for pushups or squats as well as it works for running or biking. Each interval is approximately 60 seconds in length and therefore you’ll be rotating between moderate intensity and high intensity every other minute.
Now, when I say moderate intensity, I would say about a 5 or 6 on a 10 point scale. When you switch to high intensity, you should be working at an 8 or 9 on a 10 point scale. Now, the thing about HIIT is that the high intensity periods are going to feel rough at first, but you’ve only got to keep them up for a minute. Use the moderate interval to cool down but keep your heart rate up. The trick to all of this is that your heart rate will remain at an elevated rate for most of the exercise, meaning that you’ll be burning a ton of calories.
This is the same principle that sprinters use when training to increase their speed. When you do short bursts of extremely intense exercise, you are not only training your body to perform better, but you are burning a huge amount of calories, which leads to decreased fat and increased muscle tone.
Now, if you are really serious about losing weight, then you need to consider using HIIT to help. The time commitment isn’t much, but the rewards are huge. I prefer to get my workouts done and over with so I can do other things with the rest of my day, and HIIT lets me do that. This is the secret that works for Hollywood and this is how people can create perfect beach bodies in just around 20 minutes a day. Use HIIT for any exercise you can think of and you’ll see that you improve at an amazing rate. High Intensity Interval Training has been around for some time, but for some reason people still think they need to spend more time to burn more fat. This is nothing more than a fallacy and if you just give HIIT a try for 4-6 weeks, then you’ll be able to find out for yourself.
