Written By: Nirmalya Dutta | Updated : August 6, 2013 12:00 PM IST
Do you spend hours on the various cardio machines and feel that you're not seeing any results? The problem in most of our gyms is that there's a great deal of ignorance about how cardiovascular exercises should be done. Most gym-goers feel that it's what they have to do on the days they don't have weight training and they simply go through the motions as they spend 15 minutes each on the various cardio machines the treadmill, stationary cycle, elliptical or rowing machine. This is not the right way to do cardio if you want to lose weight faster, get rid of fat from stubborn areas or build lean muscle. What you need is HIIT High Intensity Interval Training.
What is HIIT?
The regime is based on a study in 1996 by a Japanese professor named Izumi Tabata who used it on Olympic speedskaters who were divided into two groups. The HIIT group did 20 seconds of ultra-intensive exercise followed by 10 seconds of rest and continued this cycle continued for 4 minutes. The other group followed their regular steady state exercise regime. At the end of the study, the group that was undergoing the HIIT regime were in better athletic condition than the other group. Since then, HIIT has been a rage with both athletes to improve their performance and regular gym-goers to lose fat and bulk up.
Read:Supercharge your cardio workout
Benefits of HIIT
Spend less time at the gym: Takes far less time than a slow, steady cardio regime and you can get far better results. A study in Scotland even found that 150 seconds (two and a half minutes) of HIIT was better for your heart and losing calories than 90 minutes of moderate walking/jogging!
Burn more fat: Various studies have shown that performing HIIT exercise for the same duration is far more beneficial than a steady state workout when it comes to burning fat. Also people who undergo HIIT exercises tend to have a higher metabolism and their bodies continue to burn fat even after they've stopped working out. Also unlike normal cardio which causes uniform muscle loss, HIIT doesn't burn off lean muscle and only targets fat of the stubborn kind.
Better for your general health: Studies have shown the benefits HIIT has towards heart health and even reducing the risk of diseases like diabetes. A study in Ontario, Canada found that two weeks of modified HIIT training prompted the creation of far more cellular proteins involved in energy production and oxygen. The training also improved the volunteers' insulin sensitivity and improved blood sugar levels reducing people's susceptibility to type 2 diabetes.
Read:How our Bollywood hunks keep in shape
Burn fat in stubborn place: If you ever take a look at hobbyist long distance runners you'll realise that a few of them tend to sport generous bellies. This is because low-slow distance training doesn't attack the stubborn fat areas bellies for men and thighs and hips for women. HIIT on the other hand helps get rid of the fat from trouble areas.
How to do HIIT
You can incorporate HIIT in all your exercise regimes and most gym machines have the option to switch from high-intensity to low intensity. The first thing you should keep in mind is you should warm-up before you attempt it. Say you're using a treadmill and want to incorporate a HIIT regime. Here's what you do:
You can try similar exercises on the elliptical, stationery cycle and rowing machine. The trick is that you should continue to push yourself. If you start to feel comfortable increase the speed/resistance, if you've hit the maximum speed/resistance then try to increase your high to low ratio until you hit 2:1 ratio. Try this for a month and you'll see the benefits yourself.
