High Intensity Interval Training = Huge Benefits + Uber-Efficient!

What's the most efficient way to exercise? Is it the long slow burn of hour long workouts? Moderate intensity for 30-45 minutes? Or super-intense intervals? More and more research is proving the short intense workouts are best.

And we're talking SHORT! Something along the lines of 1-2 minute all-out intervals of incredibly high intense exercise.

As a matter of fact, high intensity intervals helped me to revolutionize my cycling and SIGNIFICANTLY improved my VO2max, taken right from Chris Carmichael's Time Crunched Cyclist Book. I went from near the end of the pack on group rides to the group leader in a little over 4 months, and brought home some hardware at the local mountain bike race series. To be honest, the intervals completely suck: 95-100% of my age-adjusted maximum heart rate for 2-3 minutes at a whack, repeated 9 times. THAT IS PAINFUL but it WORKS.

Additionally, Crossfit Endurance has exploded in popularity recently, and it focuses on powerlifting moves but also extreme high intensity cardiovascular exercise, and its prophets swear by it! Even Tim Ferriss in The 4 Hour Body discusses that intense exercise regimen, and I definitely think there's something to it!

When only discussing weightlifting, an old bodybuilder named Mike Mentzer was a proponent of high intensity exercise only once every three weeks! His weight lifting regimens call for a level of intensity that is itself pretty hard to attain, but the results speak for themselves, as he was a champion bodybuilder back in the late 1970's and early 1980's. More and more research is coming out proving that the short intensity exercise, as uncomfortable as it is, really does provide the most benefit.

As someone who values efficiency, I'm all about finding the most intense way to exercise, as it minimizes any wasted time in the gym. So, I'd strongly recommend looking into adding this form of exercise to your routine, as it DEFINITELY fits into our "maximum efficiency" plans.

Obviously ensure you get a full physical from your physician (NOT your own self-exam for all of the physicians out there!) before you start.

One other tidbit: If you use Google Android apps, there's a pretty good new app out there to time your intervals, and its FREE! It has color-coded intervals--the screen changes color automatically when you should be sprinting and then changes back again when you should slow down. Search for "intensity app" and you'll be able to find it.

For more information visit http://www.fourhourphysician.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=George_Smolinski

Working Out Efficiently With Interval Training For Fat Loss

The elimination of unwanted fats cannot be done with a blink of an eye nor it is possible overnight. Losing weight is possible but for you to achieve this goal you need to have the proper investments - time, diet and exercises.

Having the right amount of time allows one to ponder on what is the best way to be in shape and to stay fit. With this, one can also go through all the researches and readings of the best means of getting rid of fats. Also being able to give time to do exercises and incorporating the needed vitamins and nutrients in one's diet is a huge help.

On diet, one has to have a balance meal. Healthy eating means one should incorporate at least one food from the known food groups in his daily meal plans. A healthy diet helps improve and maintain an individual's general health.

Exercises on the other hand are very effective approaches of getting the body into shape. When you say exercise though, it is not just about how many hours you spend on the elliptical machine or how your trainer told you, that you were doing great on the treadmill in your workouts. It is also about wisely spending your training hours and getting a good gain out of the time and effort you have invested in it. Interval training for fat loss is just the answer to all of these.

There are a lot of different intervals training protocols in shedding those extra pounds you have. In a recent study, it was known that a protocol with a shorter rest period or activity proves to burn fat three times faster. This was based on the comparison of the 24 seconds effort plus 36 seconds rest versus 6 seconds of effort and 9 seconds of rest. Not much difference seen in the study's parameters and both were on a 40-minute workout plus the speeds of both are also on the same level in the treadmill.

So, what made the difference? The difference is the exercise program one goes through. It should be a program wherein the myoglobin has enough time to replenish its supply of oxygen. Myoglobin is a protein that stores up oxygen and is found in muscle cells. Protein is depleted in workouts, oxygen reserves are then replenished when it happens but when prevented from doing so, it then uses, as a fuel, its carbohydrate supply. To lose some pounds the body must burn fats and not carbohydrates. That is why it more logical to use a lower activity-to-rest ratio.

Find out how you can burn fat a lot faster with interval training done the right way. Visit this page to learn more.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Joseph_John_Williams