How Does HIIT Compare To Regular Cardiovascular Exercise?

By Russ Hollywood


An increasing number of fitness enthusiasts are choosing high intensity interval training over regular cardiovascular activity in the gym, firmly establishing HIIT as one of the most popular weight loss tips in the post millennium era. If you're thinking about tackling a HIIT routine, you need to know the basic facts first.

This isn't a fad or a passing trend, so today you will learn why it's becoming such a popular choice.

Despite being over twenty five years old, HIIT is still fairly unheard of in much of the fitness world, with many regular gym users still succumbing to the old strategy of performing long, steady state cardiovascular exercise to hit the often fabled fat burning zone. Thanks to the constantly developing scientific studies behind the health and fitness industry, long steady state cardio is now yesterday's advice for those who are looking to burn unwanted body fat!

The first instance of HIIT was discovered by researchers in 1985, who discovered that a group of exercises lost significantly more body fat when they were pushed at higher levels. These findings started a trend of research which attempted to discover the reason behind the results. Five years later, it was discovered that a group of exercisers lost significantly more body fat again while exercising at a higher intensity, despite the fact that the workouts were almost half the duration and took place three times per week, as opposed to a group doing regular cardiovascular activity five times per week.

From there, interest in this subject was high and research was being carried out almost every single year. Many athletes adopted it to their own training regime. Sprinters and swimmers were particular fans at this point.

A 2001 study from Canada provided the first concrete evidence for HIIT as an effective method to lose weight. Studies confirmed that not only did it increase the body's usage of carbohydrates, which is uses for fuel in the workout, it also increased the fat metabolizing enzyme HADH. This was a shock at the time, because it doesn't actually use fat for fuel, it uses carbohydrates. Better still, this increase in HADH lasted for a massive fourteen hours. []

So not only was HIIT proven to be effective for losing blubber, it increased the body's ability to burn excess fat for over half a day after the workout had finished!

The biggest finding of the whole test, and the one which will undoubtedly interest the most people reading this review, is the fact that researchers confirmed that one calorie used during a HIIT workout shed almost six times the fat of one calorie used during a steady state workout. That's because the body continues to burn calories after the session as a result of keeping the intensity level quite high.

Since then, of course, countless new studies have went on to confirm the effectiveness behind interval training and it has become one of the most talked about discoveries in the history of the fitness industry, with countless personal trainers and fitness experts putting their weight behind it.

It now stands tall as one of the most effective weight loss tips for anybody looking to burn maximum body fat in minimum time. If you are considering including high intensity interval training in your workout routine, you now know why countless others in the fitness world believe it to be the most effective way to get results.




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