How to burn fat in less time

Why is High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) a good way to burn fat?

HIIT alternates low & high intensity activities. Example: alternate 30sec sprinting with 60sec jogging for 10 to 30 minutes. Spinning or X-bike is a good example of HIIT as well.

The main objective when working towards fat loss is to create a caloric deficit, either by eating less calories or burning more calories or both.

Your body uses the food you eat as fuel during exercise. The more and higher intensity workout you do the more calories you’ll burn.

One of the advantages of the HIIT is that your body burns more calories at rest after a high intensity workout than with a long moderate workout. This is called post-workout after burn or EPOC.

Apart from the caloric deficit during and post workout you’ll have an increase in strength and muscle tone which will allow you to work harder and also increase your metabolic rate (therefore increasing your caloric deficit). Boom! As the weeks go by you’ll see more and more results.

For you to have an idea, a low intensity activity such as walking can burn an average of 5kcal/min (that’s why it’s not efficient for fat loss). A moderate intensity activity (65 to 85% of your max heart rate – steady cardio at moderate intensity on the elliptical trainer) burns about 10kcal/min.

A high intensity workout (more the 85% of your max heart rate) can burn up to 15kcal/min. Of course most people can’t work at this intensity for too long.

This are estimates and if you want to know exactly how much calories you’re burning is to wear a heart rate monitor during your workouts (even this one is an estimate).

HIIT workouts can be performed not only with cardio activities (running, cycling, etc.) but also lifting weights and that’s how you can boost the results.

Just be aware that most people don’t push themselves hard enough during training. Meaning you don’t actually do a real HIIT workout. It’s also important to mention once you start to fatigue your technique might deteriorate and that’s why it’s better if you train with someone else to push yourself to your maximum and to make sure you still doing it right.

Basically with a HIIT workout you’ll get the results (what you want at the end), in less time (no excuses), with more fun (bonus).