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3 Reasons to Burst Out of Your Workout Routine!
“Move more, eat less” is a tried and true weight-loss plan, but within those words of wisdom are many variations, with varying degrees of efficacy. While any form of movement is good, from gardening to taking long walks around the neighborhood, I’ve recently become interested in Burst Training.
Burst Training, also known as High-intensity interval training, requires short bursts of intense exercise for 30 to 60 seconds, with brief recovery periods in between. The idea is to burn fat, build muscle, and boost your metabolism in minutes a day. Sounds pretty good, right? Maybe even a little too good. But there is science behind it.
When you rush into sudden, intense, and brief exercise, your body creates an “oxygen debt” which requires energy (from fat oxidation) to repay. Lower intensity exercise, like taking that long walk, doesn’t require the same after-exercise repair, though you’ll burn fat at a slower pace.
A study in the journal Metabolism looked into how Burst Training works for fat loss, compared with less intense forms of exercise. They compared a 20-week endurance training program to a 15-week burst-training program, with the result that the Burst group had 9-times more fat loss than the Endurance group.
Are you thinking of running short sprints instead of taking those long walks yet? You will when you read this:
- In another study, moderately active women burned significant amounts of fat with just two weeks of Burst Training.
- An article in the same journal found that low-volume, high-intensity interval training reduces hyperglycemia in patients with type 2 diabetes.
- Burst Training has also been linked to raising anabolic hormones (which build muscle) and Human Growth Hormone (which boosts immunity, regulates the metabolism of fat and sugar, reduces inflammation, and converts fat into energy). Human Growth Hormone has been called “the fountain of youth.”
There you have it – burn more fat, gain all the benefits of regular exercise, and do it all in less time.