3 Interval Training Tips for
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As proven over and over again, interval training is the best exercise to burn fat.
The secret to accelerated fat loss?
A process called excess post-exercise oxygen consumption - EPOC for short.
What’s that, you ask?
Well, in layman's terms, EPOC refers to the amount of oxygen needed by your body to recover from the muscular stress that the interval training session put it through.
This extra oxygen is part of the fuel consumed to replenish intramuscular glycogen energy stores and repair the micro-tears in your muscles - experienced as muscle soreness, which occurs when you work out harder than usual.
These minor ruptures inside your muscles are repaired over the next 48 hours while your body rests after you have stopped exercising. The resulting new muscle tissue is slightly bigger than before and better able to handle the stress that caused the initial tears - that’s how you gain lean muscle mass.
As you can imagine, all this physiology requires energy, of which your body fat is the primary source. As a result, your body continues to burn up stored fat up to 48 hours after an interval training session.
With this in mind, one of the most important interval training tips is to use your biggest muscles during your interval training exercise - simply because replenishing their energy stores requires more of your body fat.
2. Interval Training Tips and Benefits
You'll be pleasantly surprised to discover that beyond the weight loss benefits:
- an accelerated metabolism
- massive calorie burning
- fat burning over up to 48 hours,
interval training provides many other important health benefits as well:
- Improved heart activity and better cardiovascular health
- Increased lung capacity and endurance
- Decreased risk of high blood pressure
- Lower blood cholesterol levels
- Decreased risk of injuries that are associated with repetitive, high endurance workouts of regular cardio workouts
- Improved speed - especially when you use sprinting and swimming as interval training workouts
- Increased endorphin production, a neuro-chemical that triggers an intense and prolonged feeling of well-being, stress relief, greater creativity, better sleep and a positive outlook towards life challenges
And, unlike long, boring regular cardio, there's a huge motivational benefit with interval training exercises: you can mix up various intensity levels so you’ll never experience exercise boredom, which is a big factor in your decision to NOT exercise.
Ultimately, your leaner and toned physique, increased vigor and self confidence will make you sexier and more attractive than with any other form of exercising - you’ll simply love the way it makes you feel!
3. Interval Training Tips for a
Safe & Effective Workout
As you’ve seen, interval training is by far the best exercise to burn fat; to maximize its effectiveness, make sure you:
- Avoid doing your workout on an empty stomach, or you won’t be able to do the workout - eat a piece of fruit or drink a protein shake approx. 1 hour before
- Warm-up before and cool down after your workout to allow your neuromuscular system to adjust accordingly and prevent injuries
- Start according to your current fitness level, slowly developing your workouts as your physical condition improves - you should have done 30-45 min of cardio comfortably for a month before introducing interval training in your exercising routine
- As you become more fit, increase either the intensity or the duration of the intervals, but avoid increasing both at the same time
Whether it is sprinting, cycling, swimming, rollerblading, skating, hiking, these interval training tips will lessen the risks for injury while maximizing your interval training exercise - including your treadmill interval training >>
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