Okay, I am pretty sure you have read most of the material you could get your hands on concerning dieting and weight loss.  Chances are, you even attempted dieting and cardiovascular training at some point in order to shed some of those unwanted pounds.  The question is, did it work?  If it did work, how long did your new body last?  A matter of weeks?  A matter of months?  Chances are, if you are reading this article, you weren't completely satisfied with the results of your last attempt to lose weight, and you are hoping there is something out there that can give you the edge.  There is something out there that can give you the edge when climbing toward your weight loss goals, but you have to be willing to work for it.  That something is called high intensity interval training, or HIIT.

     What is the difference between HIIT and your run of the mill cardio, and why will it help you lose weight faster and more effectively than your average dieting and cardio scheme?  The answer is in the science behind it all.  In order to understand why HIIT works, you need to understand how your body loses weight in general, and how your body converting fat to energy determines how much unwanted body fat you shed after a given bout of physical exertion.  In other words, you need a bit of back ground to thoroughly understand why HIIT is superior, and what it can do for you.

     Okay.  In order to lose weight, you need to either sweat off weight in water, or burn off weight in fat.  I am sure that you are most interested in the latter.  Burning off weight in fat is relatively simple in theory, but extremely difficult in practice because most people with extra fat have it because their body is highly efficient in its use of energy.  In other words, the genes that make you predisposed to fat during these sedentary times are the same ones that gave your ancestors the edge when we had to hunt and fight for each and every meal.  Fat burning for energy occurs when your body's source of glucose and glycogen are depleted, thus forcing your body to convert stored fat into usable energy.  Your body will utilize fat in any situation that requires energy when you no longer have glycogen and glucose on hand.  This means that yes, cardio will burn fat, but not as efficiently as HIIT.  Why?  Because HIIT is much more intense and requires a much higher amount of energy to sustain.  This increased amount of energy requirements is the same thing that leads to more fat burning.  But this is not the only reason HIIT is superior to normal cardio.  HIIT has been proven to increase basal metabolic weight for a substantial amount of time after you are finished training.  This means, in layman's terms that your body will continue to use more calories than usual for energy, even after you have stopped training.  Even if you sit down on a couch or sleep after your training!  How does that sound?

     Now for the good stuff.  How can you apply HIIT today?  HIIT is exactly like what the name suggests.  High intensity means you will be working at or above %80 of your maximum heart rate.  Interval means that you will be alternating between these bouts of high intensity and bouts of average intensity cardio or work.  Training, well, we all know what that is-hopefully.  Now, lets say you want to give HIIT a try.  You would start by jogging at a comfortable pace for 3-5 minutes.  Then, you would increase the pace to a run for a minute.  Don't kill yourself at first, just increase the intensity to a point that you really have to focus to finish the minute.  Now, relax for a couple of minutes by jogging at an easy pace.  Then repeat the burst of running again.  Do this cycle a few times, aiming for twenty minutes at first.  This cycle can be applied to almost any apparatus, be it stair stepper or elliptical trainer.  You can even utilize bleacher running for a brutally effective workout.

     Now, if you want to attempt HIIT, you should always remember to warm up before hand.  In order to maximize the benefits of any weight loss plan, healthy eating is a must.  With a bit of discipline and perseverance, you too can reap the rewards of scientifically applied training protocols.

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Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved.