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Sunday, May 27, 2012

Day 36 - Go Fast and then Go Home

 

I probably sound like a broken record here, but unfortunately some people just don't get it. I see and get asked by people all the time why they are not getting/seeing results from working out an hour or more at a time. I then see them slowly jogging on a treadmill or elliptical.

Instead, why not try HIIT (high-intensity interval training) and cut your workout times in half? Chronic cardio should only be used if you are training for...wait for it...a cardio event such as a marathon or triathlon, etc.

Instead, most people can get into their gym, exercise using HIIT principles for 20-30mins and then be done with an even better workout than something that takes twice the time. A study done by McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada found that men who performed sprint intervaltraining for a total of 2.5 hours (including recovery) over the course of 2weeks has the same results as the group who performed endurance training for atotal of 10.5 hours over the same time period.

Yes, its alright to go back and read that again. 1/5th of the time for the same results! Another study following a group of 15 women found that high-intensity exercise (40 to 45 minutes approximately four times weekly at a mean HR of 163 bpm) reduced body fat by about 5 percent over the course of 15 weeks versus a virtually unchanged percentage in the group that performed exercise at a lower heart rate (132 beats per minute).

I am generalizing in a very drastic way here, but think of the differences in body composition between an Olympic sprinter and an Olympic marathon runner. Both are 'thin' and very 'fit', however it is the sprinters that spend majority of their time doing, fast, maximum-effort exercise for shorter periods of time.

Quote of the day:
"It’s hard to beat a person who never gives up.
 -Babe Ruth

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