by Richard Chan

Created on: March 09, 2008

So what is the best way to get fit? All I need to say is HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training)? What is high intensity interval training and can this be the best way to get fit or most effectively lose more fat following this routine? Many have said that optimal fat loss should be done at a lower intensity level and longer duration. Most people assume that doing aerobics for 40-60 minutes is the proper way to burn fat efficiently. In actual fact, when you do aerobics for that long, you are training at a lower intensity level. Also, after you are done your workout your metabolism stays elevated for up to an hour after you finish. With high intensity interval training, your metabolism will stay elevated for about 24 hours! Alright I'll be discussing why high intensity interval training can help you burn up to 50% more calories and the reasoning behind this madness!

First thing, let me discuss some calculations between low and high intensity exercising. Low intensity exercising is classified of having 60% to 65% of your maximum heart rate. With high intensity exercise you are working about 75% to 85% of your maximum heart rate. To make things simple we'll assume that person is 20 years old.

Formula:
220- (your age) = maximum heart rate

From our formula, we know our maximum heart rate is 200. So, working at 60% of your maximum heart rate would be 120 bpm (beats per minute) and 80% of that would be 160 bpm. With those numbers low intensity burns 50% fat for energy and high intensity burns 40% fat for energy. So, right now it seems low intensity training is the proper way to train? Ok, lets go a little deeper comparing both training methods. A person walks for about 30 minutes burning 150 calories. We then calculate 50% of 150 calories is 75 fat calories burned. Now, lets say that person does high intensity training for 15 minutes burning 240 calories. So, 40% of 240 calories is 96 fat calories burned! We've just determined that high intensity is done in half the time and it is also burning an extra 21 fat calories! On top of that, I've already
discussed that your metabolism will stay elevated for about 24 hours with high intensity training.

Now you are thinking to yourself, how is it done? Say you are jogging outside and you'll begin with a light jog or brisk walking to warm up. After a few minutes of getting blood flow throughout your body, you'll begin your high intensity interval training. Next you'll run for about 2-3 minutes and then walk for about 1 minute and

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