Every day, hundreds of articles are published in leading
scientific journals which are directly related to exercise and its
effects on the human body. We are amazingly fortunate that we can
take advantage of millions of dollars of research and use it to
develop the body of our dreams! However, sometimes science goes
against popular convention, and this is never more true than in
your local gym.
Ever see the same person on the elliptical, day after day, month
after month, making little to no progress in the fight against fat?
Or how about the person who spends two hours per day doing cardio,
is unbelievably skinny, but has no shape or tone? What if I told
you that you can lose more fat and keep muscle tone in less than
one quarter of the time it takes to perform an hour long cardio
session? More is not better with cardio, it is the intensity that
matters because higher intensity cardio will lead to greater fat
burning after the exercise is completed. This means you are burning
fat all day and all night as a result of just one short cardio
session. Read on to learn about the birth of HIIT (High Intensity
Interval Training) in Japanese laboratories, the benefits it gives
you, and also a short tutorial on how it is performed.
Dr. Tabata of the National Health & Nutrition Institute in
Tokyo, Japan set out to find the perfect aerobics protocol. He
postulated that the perfect aerobics protocol would include the
following elements:
High Intensity - Dr. Tabata knew that high intensity workouts lead
to a stimulation of the metabolism which causes more calories to be
burned over the next 48 hours.
Fitness Promoting - The exercise would be Aerobic (cardiovascular)
and Anaerobic (muscle toning). The more fit you are, the more
likely you are to use fat for energy all day long.
Brief - Too much aerobics burns muscle, and this is not good for
the metabolism or the quest to become lean.
Dr. Tabata separated subjects into two groups. One group performed
high intensity exercise for a short time, and the other performed
moderate-intensity exercise for an hour per day. The results showed
that the high intensity subjects had a 14% increase in VO2 (aerobic
fitness) and a 28% increase in anaerobic capacity (muscle power).
The moderate-intensity subjects had only a 10% increase in VO2 and
no increase in anaerobic capacity even though they were exercising
more than 4 times as long.
By taking this information and examining the workouts of the
National Speed Skating Team, he was able to formulate his ideal
cardio training protocol.
What other benefits are there of HIIT (High Intensity Interval
Training)?
HIIT increases aerobic capacity and burns fat.
HIIT suppresses the appetite.
HIIT improves sports performance and sprinting capabilities.
HIIT engenders better post-exercise energy usage and fat
utilization.
HIIT improves aerobic recovery abilities (climb up a flight of
stairs without getting winded!)
Recovery from the HIIT workout causes more calories to be
burned.
GH (Growth Hormone) is released into the blood, called by some
people The Fountain of Youth.
HIIT Tones muscles.
The HIIT sessions themselves are not catabolic (meaning muscle will
not be used for energy, as in the case of long slow cardio).
HIIT increases your lactic acid threshold (less; when performing
exercise).
Given these benefits, you're probably chomping at the bit to
perform some High Intensity Interval Training. The basic idea is to
go fast and then slow. Ideally you want to perform the exercise
just long enough to spark the metabolism so that you can burn fat
all day, but not so long that it eats away at your muscles. HIIT is
well suited to any form of exercise where you can really get your
heart rate up. A recumbent bicycle at the gym works great, since
you don't have to think about anything other than pushing yourself
to the limit. HIIT originated as a sprinting exercise, so you can
get started right now by lacing up some sneakers and heading out
the front door.
Warm up for 5 minutes with a brisk jog.
Sprint for 20 seconds at maximal effort.
Walk for 15 seconds.
Repeat sprinting and walking seven more times for a total of eight
sprints.
Cool down for 5 minutes with a brisk jog.
High Intensity Interval Training requires lots of recovery time
between workout sessions, so perform it a maximum of three times
per week. You will also want to challenge yourself by increasing
the effort on each session.
Now you know how to perform HIIT, you know why you should perform
HIIT, and you know how HIIT originated. Probably the hardest thing
to do now is to ignore the conventional more cardio is better
conditioning that plagues gyms worldwide. If you can get past this
hurdle (excuse the pun), then you'll be shaking your head at those
ladies on the elliptical who are wasting hours per week and getting
nowhere, as you strut by in your new an improved figure!
http://articles.rapidfatburning.com/training/the-benefits-of-high-intensity-interval-training/