Interval Training & Weight Loss

If you have the time to exercise but can’t exercise for very long, it is still possible to lose weight and tone your body but in half the time it would normally take you.

The idea is to increase the intensity of the activity that you do, so that you can exercise for short periods of time whilst still getting the same benefits you would from a longer exercise session. This is known as interval training.

Benefits Of Interval Training

The basic idea of interval training is to do short periods of intense exercise, followed by periods of slower and gentler exercise. So basically you push yourself as hard as you can, and then allow yourself some time to recover.

Not only can interval training help you to burn calories, but it can also help you to burn more calories throughout the rest of the day because it helps to boost your metabolism.

In fact interval training can actually be better for you than regular exercise in terms of weight loss, because studies have shown that after interval training your metabolism is boosted for around 15 hours after you have finished exercising.

This is compared to just three hours after stopping regular exercise.

So not only can you save yourself time with interval training, but you can also burn calories quicker and so will lose weight faster.

The fact that interval training is such an effective way of burning fat, has made it an increasingly popular form of exercise especially amongst people who don’t have much free time.

How Interval Training Works

Most of the weight loss benefits you get from exercise occur not while you are exercising, but after you have finished exercising when your body starts to burn off different kinds of fuel.

During a regular workout your body will start to burn off fat, but as soon as you finish exercising your body will go back to burning glucose.

However with interval training because you are working out harder, your body burns off the glucose supplies much more quickly.

This means that after you have finished your workout your body has to turn to fat as a fuel source, and so will burn that off for the rest of the day.

As a result, while your body tries to restock its glucose supplies through the food that you eat, you will continue to burn fat for around the next 15 hours.

This is why short and intense bursts of exercise can be so effective at helping you lose weight quickly.

How to Do Interval Training

Interval training can be done with any form of exercise, so it is best to choose something that you find fun and can challenge yourself with.

For example, if you enjoy running then you could run quickly for short bursts, jog slowly for a bit, and then run quickly again.

However it is important that during these intense periods, you really try and push yourself to the limit so that you feel exhausted afterwards.

How To Use Interval Training To Cut Your Workout Time In Half

•    If you normally exercise for one hour a day, exercise for 30 minutes instead. During this time have periods of intense exercise, and then periods of lower intensity exercise.

•    If you exercise for an hour on the treadmill each day, change that to a 30 minute workout and set your treadmill on a hilly setting so that you are walking up and down hills.

•    If swimming is your thing, then replace 40 minutes breaststroke with 20 minutes of a faster paced front crawl.

•    If you run two miles every day, run one-mile instead at a faster pace.

•    Instead of doing a 20 minute weightlifting session, do a 10 minute session instead but using heavier weights.