By Russ Howe


If a method existed which could turn five minutes of exercise into almost twelve hours of fat burning, would you think it was too good to be true?

If you've been keeping up to date with the latest developments in the sports science world over the last ten years, you'll be aware that this process actually exists and is already used by millions of exercise enthusiasts around the world.

The protocol in question is, of course, high intensity interval training.

Interval training, or HIIT as it is otherwise known, is a long standing training protocol adopted by athletes to build lean muscle and burn body fat at the same time.

The main selling point behind HIIT, however, comes in the form of it's simplicity. Unlike more complex training principles, HIIT is all about brief sections of maximum intensity work followed by short recovery periods. That's it.

Now that you know the basics, how can you get the benefits on offer?

It all comes down to creating metabolic stress. By performing at maximum intensity, we force our body to use our carbohydrate stores during our workout and then switch to using body fat for fuel in the ten to twelve hours following our gym session. Studies refer to this phenomenon as E.P.O.C.

By utilizing short yet brief period of maximum intensity cardio, where we drive our heart rate above 90% of our max level, then short recovery periods which allow us to temporarily regenerate our energy, we are able to reap the rewards of interval training. This means working for 1-2 minutes followed by a thirty second break to recover, and repeating the process.



Using these methods, a five minute session becomes a war.

Studies clearly show the effectiveness of interval training, but few people realize just how effective it really is. In fact, HIIT has been shown to be over eight times superior to aerobic cardio when done properly!

Those who do not workout in a gym often falsely believe that they have to miss out on the benefits this training protocol has. This is untrue. Body weight moves are a great substitute.

Moves like lunges and mountain climbers are hugely effective for driving up your heart rate and reaping those fat burning rewards.

If you are looking at how to assemble a 5 minute fat loss workout, try using these methods the next time you workout and reap the rewards for yourself.




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