Keep It Tight: Use HIIT to Burn Fat, Gain Muscle, Boost Overall Health

By ABS Contributor | Published on: July 17, 2013 | Updated on March 25, 2016 Comments (0)

People want to lose fat, gain muscle, and not spend a lot of time doing it. An easy way to accomplish this is… There is no easy way.

The quickest and most effective way to lose fat and increase muscle is through High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). HIIT is based on short, intense bursts of full- capacity exercise followed by low activity or rest in intervals.

The more intense the exercise, the less you do. The idea that aerobic exercise burns fat is phasing out. Although it does improve aerobic capacity; a study from The Cochrane Collaboration found moderate, aerobic activity to produce negligible weight loss.

Less time, greater results

With rising numbers of overweight and obese individuals who are generally sedentary to begin with, a prolonged exercise routine lasting one hour, five times a week is too much.

This is exactly where HIIT excels. HIIT workouts last 20-30 minutes, three times a week and achieve double the fat loss as 30-60 minutes of moderate aerobic activity. These workouts increase the basal metabolic rate and improve the muscles’ fat oxidation and glucose tolerance, leading to quick and lasting results.

HIIT workouts increase levels of several hormones including growth hormone, catecholamines (epinephrine, dopamine), and cortisol…

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