After I discovered High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) I just cannot go back to any other type of exercise. Why? Because HIIT is the fastest way to bring change to your body. Whether you want to lose inches, increase your strength, or your endurance, interval training is the go-to way to make it happen rapidly.
The following is an excerpt from my new interval-training book “Flat Belly Firm Butt in 16 Minutes: Get An Hour’s Results in 16 Minutes.” Read on to learn how to get an hour’s results in 16 minutes, and then get a signed copy of my best-selling book “Surprisingly…Unstuck: The Power of Small Healthy Habits Habits In A World Addicted To Instant Results” for free!
First, here’s why interval training impressed me right from the start.
After I gained weight as a graduate student at Stanford engineering, I decided I’d make healthy living a priority. Since then, I’ve been moving my body almost religiously five times a week.
By “moving” I refer to a combination of “results-focused” and “easy-going” exercise: from weight lifting and cardio at the gym, to yoga and pilates classes, to brisk walking, to barre-type and High Intensity Interval Training at-home DVDs.
My attempts to find the perfect workout started at the gym. With time I began switching up my gym routine. I went from doing five weight lifting exercises to seven or nine, and then after a while went back to three or five—but added 15 minutes of stretching and 25 minutes of cardio.
None of these changes produced any significant difference on my body, but at the time, I didn’t care that much about results. I was content with enjoying myself when working out.
You see, my number one goal was—and is—to live a long life. “Easy-going” exercise is just what you need to make it happen. For longevity, you don’t need to exert yourself too much—but you do need to keep moving!
Even though I didn’t revel in just maintaining my fitness and only making incremental improvements, I was okay with my workout schedule.
Maybe I didn’t bother with the absence of results, because I just didn’t know what was possible. Most importantly, I didn’t know that I could enjoy myself just as much, and get amazing results as well. Who said you have to sacrifice joy for results?
And then I discovered HIIT—High Intensity Interval Training. When doing interval training you alternate between very intense short bursts of exercise and rest. HIIT posed a different type of challenge, and I wanted to explore it more. I soon replaced a weekly 60-minute-long gym workout with a (legs-focused) 16-minute HIIT workout.
I felt a bit guilty for exercising “less,” but at the same time I enjoyed being done in 16 minutes rather than the normal hour and a half of going to the gym and back.
A month later I noticed something different about my legs. They were leaner. There was definition that didn’t exist before. They had changed shape a bit. They were less of an inverted triangle, as they were narrower at the hip level than they used to be. But why? What had changed?
And then it dawned on me. HIIT was the only thing that had changed. I thought I was slacking by only doing a 16-minute HIIT workout, but it seemed that this workout produced far more effective results than my normal 60-minute gym session.
I was impressed! I had never seen results that fast. And the passion for changing my physique while getting stronger and fitter came back.
But my experience with interval training is not a solo incident. It has scientifically been proven that HIIT gets you extremely fast results. From health benefits, to improved aerobic capacity, muscle growth, and fat loss, studies have indicated that HIIT is surprisingly effective.
Many studies even indicate that HIIT doesn’t just get you fast results, it gets you results faster than doing longer workouts. Work out less, get more results. Amazing, right? Let’s dive in.
Is HIIT more effective than moderate exercise for losing fat?
You may think you need to slave at the gym on the treadmill, the stationary bike, or the elliptical. But this might not be the optimal way to lose fat. Trapp et al.[1] conducted a High Intensity program for 15 weeks with three weekly 20-minute HIIT sessions in young women. HIIT consisted of an eight-second sprint followed by 12 seconds of low intensity cycling.
Another group of women carried out an aerobic cycling protocol that consisted of steady state cycling at 60% VO2 max for 40 minutes (VO2 max is the best fitness level metric). Results showed that women in the 20-minute HIIT group lost significantly more fat (2.5 kg or 5.5 lb.) than those in the 40-minute steady state aerobic exercise program. I call this efficiency, don’t you? And this is only the beginning.
HIIT might be the fastest way to increase your fitness
Okay, so we know HIIT is beneficial to our bodies, but the real question here is, does HIIT improve your fitness level faster than moderate exercise? Gibala et al. studied the effects of sprint-interval training versus high volume endurance training.[2]
Sprint interval training is a type of high intensity training where people specifically perform sprints as their main form of exercise. The authors studied 16 men in total, eight in each one of the two groups. Both groups worked out six times a week for a total of two weeks.
The HIIT group performed four to six repeats of 30-second “all out” cycling at 250% with four-minute recovery. The endurance group did 90–120 minutes of continuous cycling at 65% . Overall, the HIIT group worked out for 2.5 hours, while the endurance group devoted 10.5 hours.
The authors found that six sessions of either low volume sprint-interval training or traditional high volume endurance training induced similar improvements in muscle oxidative capacity, muscle buffering capacity, and exercise performance.
In other words, 2.5 hours of high-intensity exercise gives you the same results as 10.5 hours of exercise. The numbers here speak for themselves.
Get the results of Interval Training and a signed copy of “Surprisingly…Unstuck” for free!
Here’s what you’ll what the Flat Belly Firm Butt in 16 Minutes book is all about:
- Cut more than an hour from your workout, yet get better results.
- Save 4 hours a week by switching your normal workout with the an FB16 one 3 times a week. How will you spend those 4 hours of free time?
- Receive a step-by-step, 4-week workout plan with six full-length workouts that will completely reshape and resculpt your body.
- Receive the bonus, full-length, total-body workout in HD video, and work out anywhere, anytime!
- Get clear instruction with 300 photos, describing the 120+ most efficient exercises and stretches for your abs, butt, legs, and upper body.
- Understand the science behind why the FB16 interval training system delivers such rapid results.
Are you in the USA? Be one of the first 10 people who get the book, e-mail me the receipt, and I will send you a free copy of my best-selling book “Surprisingly…Unstuck: The Power of Small Healthy Habits Habits In A World Addicted To Instant Results” for free!
Let’s make 2015 the year when you’ll change your physique – for good!