HIIT for fat loss and muscle growth

March 8th, 2011 |

Author: Diet

If you're even a bit of fitness, you've heard about HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) for fat loss. In simple terms, this means making movements demanding for short intervals followed by a rest period. You may have heard that this is the best way to lose fat and maintain and increase your muscle mass. But is this really true? See more details.

Before going further, let me mention the loss of fat traditional method … yes … this is it. Getting on the treadmill and jog for 30 to 45 minutes at a constant speed while keeping your fat burning zone which is about 65-75% of your maximum heart rate. So if you are 30, you should stay between 123.5 to 142.5 beats per minute (220-30 = 190 | 0.65 x 190 = 123.5 | 0.75 x 190 = 142.5). It takes about 60 to 80% of energy from fat. Anyone who hears this would be quite convinced that this is the best way to lose> Fat. But this is not true. I agree that this will help you lose fat, but I doubt the part about being the best. Take a look at some of the disadvantages of this type of training.

First, if you ask me, it is extremely annoying. Anyone would be bored doing the same thing without any change for a long time, but maybe that's just me. If you look at the more scientific side, this kind of cardio training will raise your metabolism (or the use of energy) during thetraining and one hour after training, after you're back at the normal rate of metabolism. You do not burn many calories at rest. And then there's this problem of hitting the weight loss plateau. This means that you stop losing fat because your body gets used to your workouts and diet. Another big problem is that when you train for more than 35 to 40 minutes, you increase the release of a hormone called cortisol, which is a regulator of all body functions, butits characteristics is not so good that breaks down proteins for energy (ie, loss of muscle).

Let me also stress that the muscle is heavier than fat so the scale will show that you lost some weight, but muscle loss is not good. The final and most significant returns to the first point where I said that cardio burns more fat and less carbohydrates. But if we watch our diet, we take a lot more carbohydrates during these days compared to the amount of fat and if wedo not use these carbs, they eventually turn into fat. So, any benefit you get, will not be the best result.

Now that we know a little about the traditional cardio, look in the method of HIIT cardio. As mentioned above, this short burst of intense movements, followed by periods of recovery. Thus, for example, a HIIT workout is very popular to run for 2 minutes and 10 seconds for the sprint and repeating this 5 to 10 times depending on your fitnesslevel. Research shows that such training raises your metabolic rate for a number of hours (up to 48 hours after a workout). This is due to the effect of EPOC. EPOC stands for Excess Post-exercise oxygen consumption, which means you use more oxygen at rest after a workout compared to the amount of oxygen used before training.

EPOC is accompanied by a higher metabolism, which is exactly what you want to lose fat. I want to make it clearthat long traditional cardio also gives the effect of EPOC, but for a very short period of time. Research shows that (weight lifting, sprinting, etc.) anaerobic workouts keep your metabolism higher for much longer than traditional aerobic workout (jogging, walking, cycling, etc.). At the end of the day, you burn calories much Also, which include both carbohydrates and fats.

Another effect of the form of HIIT training is the release of the hormone testosterone and growth that help build muscle, butMeanwhile, a number of studies show they help to lose body fat and preserve muscle. Because HIIT is not more than 20 minutes, the release of cortisol can be avoided. Other advantages may include that HIIT helps give a better tone to the whole body, it is not boring as you are constantly changing and plan every minute or two. HIIT is often used to break a plate of fat loss, so your body never gets used to a workout.

In conclusion, we can see that HIIT isprobably a better option for fat loss and / or muscle growth. However, please note that your diet and nutrition plays a huge role in this as well and this should not be overlooked.

Fat Loss Tips.

HIIT for fat loss and muscle growth