H.I.I.T. - The Ultimate Fat Burning Solution
Physiologically speaking, it is impossible to work at maximal intensity for a prolonged period of time, so if you think that long workout routines will help you lose weight faster, you need to reconsider your approach.
There is, in fact, a much more efficient way to achieve body transformation much faster.
Using high intensity exercises in short bursts of time instead of grinding it out for hours is an effective way to achieve full fitness benefits. As a result, you allow your body frequent recovery periods so it can prepare for the next workout.
The benefits of high intensity training include losing body fat fast and retaining maximum muscle mass while also losing body fat quickly. In addition to strengthening your cardio vascular system, high intensity training can increase your endurance for long periods of high intensity training.
HIIT - what is it?
The term HIIT, also known as High Intensity Interval Training, should be familiar to fitness enthusiasts looking for effective ways to slim down. When people are unfamiliar with HIIT, they typically associate it with panting, sweating, and burpees that are unfathomable.
There's a common misconception that HIIT involves intense movements, frequent breaks, and a lot of sweating.
But the truth of the matter is that HIIT is so much more than that.
In spite of the fact that HIIT workouts include both high intensity and interval training, most people do not perform them correctly. In spite of thinking they did, they may never have completed a HIIT workout. So here's a quick breakdown of what HIIT really looks like, so they won't be confused anymore.
The concept of high intensity interval training (HIIT) is very specific in that it involves short bursts of intense exercise alternating with short and occasionally active recuperation periods as opposed to standing still during the workout.
Intense training raises your heart rate and burns fat deep within your body in a short amount of time. The same results can also be achieved by running for a long time while keeping your heart rate high through moderate intensity steady state cardio, also known as MISS Training. However, the results produced by these two methods differ greatly, so they are very different.
In HIIT, the goal is not just to increase your heart rate and ensure that you are performing your training to your maximum potential. If you want to get the most out of HIIT, you have to push yourself to the limit during each burst by keeping your EPOC high during every burst.
The bursts are also short, ranging anywhere from 20-90 seconds, since even this much time is a lot when you are working hard.
When done on their own, HIIT differs from both high intensity and interval training in this crucial way. HIIT is such a hit because it creates an after-burn effect that burns more calories over time as a result of increased intensity. All exercise promotes fat loss by burning calories, but high intensity workouts create an after-burn effect that burns more calories over time.
It has also been shown that HIIT is a more effective way of getting incredibly shredded quickly than other types of cardio. Due to the use of both body weight and additional weight, this workout boosts the heart rate and tones muscles at the same time.
A second element of HIIT that makes it work is the element of rest. Training is characterized by intense bursts followed by active recovery. If you don't take enough time to recover between each set, you won't be able to push yourself to the limit on the next burst. Resting between sets is an essential part of the workout.
As a result of performing at an intense level, your body is forced to perform something it is neither accustomed to nor comfortable with. This can only be achieved by pushing through the limits of your body. In fact, you won’t find this benefit by performing long hours of traditional cardio sessions – HIIT isn’t just about burning fat, but also retaining muscle mass or even growing in mass.
HIIT can reduce body fat, keep you lean, and improve endurance while adding muscle mass.
The Science Behind HIIT
The aim of HIIT is to induce overload, which means the body fatigues more significantly as a result of strenuous exercise. It is important to note, however, that supercompensation is only achieved when there is significant recovery after training overload. By combining the two components, physiological adaptations are hoped to result in increased performance over the baseline.
It is similar to the process of your car engine cooling gradually after a long drive. After you reach your destination, your car engine stays warm until it slows down until it reaches resting temperature.
As with a car's engine, the metabolic rate of the body continues to thrive even after the workout is completed. This phenomenon is known as excess post-exercise oxygen consumption or EPOC.
The EPOC Effect
A phenomenon known as EPOC occurs when the amount of oxygen consumed after exercise exceeds that consumed before exercise. It helps you burn more calories long after you finish working out.
When recovering, energy resources need to be replenished, blood must be reoxygenated, and circulatory hormones must be regenerated. Furthermore, the heart rate, breathing rate, and body temperature must return to normal as well. After exercise, EPOC experiences an increase in calories as compared to pre-exercise due to the need for oxygen.
EPOC can be triggered by most types of intense workouts, but research indicates that HIIT is the most effective way to trigger it. Anaerobic pathways provide ATP at a much faster rate when you perform your exercises at a higher intensity and demand immediate energy.
Because of this, high-intensity exercise can only be sustained for a short period of time.
Thus, HIIT makes sense since it generates anaerobically produced ATP that requires aerobic resupply once it is exhausted.
In the same vein, EPOC is more affected by intensity than duration, since the intensity is more important to EPOC. As a result, even after a HIIT workout is over, the body still uses aerobic energy pathways to replace the ATP lost during the session, thereby boosting EPOC.
HIIT works flawlessly if your EPOC effect is high, as it increases your resting metabolic rate and calorie burn. This spike and recovery pattern is essential to making it successful. Compared to moderate aerobic workouts, this pattern not only improves cardiorespiratory endurance, but also allows for a higher caloric expenditure during and after the workout.
Having said that, it's still vital to remember that high intensity exercises should be performed no more than three times a week and that recovery time should be allowed between them.
Is HIIT Right For You?
Due to the intensity of HIIT, it requires an element of general and core strength, mobility, and awareness of one's own physical limitations.
It is important that people who are interested in taking up HIIT are willing to try out a variety of different exercises and understand how to perform these moves correctly and safely. The doctor should approve the use of HIIT if you're over 55 years old.
The HIIT training method is not recommended for people with knee, back, or shoulder injuries, as well as anyone with cardiovascular issues like hypertension and heart palpitations.