When it comes to doing cardio, there’s plenty of ways you can work out to make sure that you have a terrible time. Either sitting on the elliptical for forty five minutes to an hour on low resistance sweating a puddle into your grey hoody, or slowly jogging on a flat treadmill with a steady pain building in your knees as you watch the news ticker on the TV in front of you. Yeah, neither of those sounds very fun, do they? Especially the time dedication that light, sustained cardio takes out of your day. Well, it turns out that long form cardio isn’t the only way. Short workouts can be extremely effective.
HIIT and Short Workouts
The key to getting in, getting your workout, and getting out (while having it still be effective) is to lean on the HIIT method.
HIIT is a type of exercise that involves short bouts of exercise followed by brief recovery periods. This sequence is repeated several times in a row, usually for a duration of 20 to 30 minutes, and studies have shown that this type of interval training results in increased fat loss and muscle production.
According to a study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, the heart muscle will hypertrophy during HIIT-type exercises to allow the heart itself to become bigger and stronger. During every period of this intense exercise, you are increasing your cardiovascular limits. Then, during the short, thirty second rest times, your body will learn to quickly recover.
And moving forward from that, the heart will need less and less time to rest, which will build up your stamina and improve it’s ability to use oxygen to maintain an elevated heart rate for a longer period of time.
HIIT for Fat Busting
HIIT workouts are also a great fat burning tool. HIIT workouts trigger excess post-exercise oxygen consumption, also known as EPOC. During a difficult burst of exercise, the body experiences an oxygen deficit. Because of this, the higher level of oxygen is needed to facilitate the restoration of hormone levels and glucose stores when the workout ends and the body goes into recovery mode.
HIIT also burns more calories during and -after- a workout than continuous aerobic training.
The bursts of increased intensity simple increase the calorie expenditure; thus, more calories are burned which helps your body composition. You burn more calories for about two hours after exercises as well, adding to the greater caloric burn.
HIIT Stimulates Natural Hormone Production
Additionally, a 2009 study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research found that high-intensity training also increases testosterone levels. Elevated levels of testosterone promote weight loss, muscle mass and high energy levels, but as men and women age, their testosterone levels naturally decline, leading to obesity and a weakened metabolism. HIIT training also results in natural growth hormone secretion which helps incinerate fat and promotes lean muscle growth. In those instances, making high-intensity exercise a habit will lead to increased hormone balance and the continued building of lean muscle mass.
