Got 10 Minutes? How to Shed Fat Up to 48 Hours With This Fat-Burning Workout
Spending hours at the gym? When we think of exercise, most of us conjure up images of people doing monotonous cardio at the gym on the treadmill, for what seems like hours. What if I told you that you DO NOT have to hop a treadmill or an elliptical for what seems to be an eternity.. what if I told you that in just minutes, 3-4 times a week would be all you needed to build real heart strength, lung power, create more energy and vigor than traditional cardio, burn fat faster – even while resting? Way more exciting! You can, with High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). HIIT is simply short bursts of short bursts of exertion followed by rest and recovery and can be used with walking, running, jogging, cycling, circuit training, using any machine such as an elliptical or treadmill, body weight and more. There are many variations but here is a basic video HIIT workout:
- 30 seconds maximum exertion (you are very breathless) followed by 90 seconds of a slow to moderate pace. Repeat 8 times.
That’s it! Just minutes and only a few times a week. How’s that for an efficient form of exercise?
Studies on HIIT suggest that this may be more effective than either resistance training or aerobic exercise alone. Plus, it’s efficient, offering the benefits of longer workouts in less time. However, HIIT when combined with resistance training, is the gold standard for optimized fitness.
Doing HIIT teaches your body to burn fat and build muscle, it greatly increases your lung capacity, turns your body into a fat burning machine with strong muscles and youthful features. Where long slower cardio diminishes your lung power and teaches your body to burn muscle! Long slow cardio like jogging does just this. Rest, recovery and progressive changes are the missing components to traditional aerobics.
Think about our ancestors, they never jogged for 30 to 60 minutes. They lived their life hunting prey or running from it – short, intense bursts of activity. What is important is that this is still hardwired into our genes and why so beneficial in many areas of our health and weight.
HIIT really boils down to engaging all three types of your muscle fibers: Fast-twitch, slow-twitch and super-fast-twitch muscle fibers to create amazing fitness, health and weight loss, especially the fast twitch muscles that traditional long slow cardio doesn’t touch. And your time investment to reap the benefits? Minimal.
BENEFITS OF HIIT TRAINING
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Boost your metabolism
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Boost cardio health
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Burn away fat
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Better handle stress
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Boost your growth hormone
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Slows the aging process
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Increases mitochondria
HIIT training melts fat very effectively for 24 – 48 hours after you finish (!), it helps you to better handle stress and lowers stress hormones, and HIIT boosts the very important human growth hormone that helps build muscle mass, promote a leaner body and a more youthful you.
One study published in the Journal of Obesity reported that just 12 weeks of HIIT not only can result in significant abdominal, trunk, and visceral fat loss, but also can give you significant increases in muscle mass, lung and cardiovascular power.
Work towards practicing HIIT workouts for their multiple benefits by increasing your intervals. If you can only do one interval, that is great! You will be amazed at how quickly you’ll be able to do two and so on. However, if you aren’t already exercising, then it’s best to start slowly to avoid injury or more serious problems. You no longer have to be frustrated not seeing the results you need and want with your traditional cardio. Give HIIT a try and see just how effective it can be.
References
https://www.hindawi.com/journals/jobe/2012/480467/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23539308
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22124355
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22854902
http://www.cell.com/cell-metabolism/fulltext/S1550-4131(17)30099-2
©2017 DLS HealthWorks, LLC. Lori Shemek, PhD health expert and weight loss expert. Bestselling author of How To Fight FATflammation! and the best-selling author of ‘Fire-Up Your Fat Burn!’