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By Howe Russ


An increasing number of fitness enthusiasts are choosing high intensity interval training over regular cardiovascular activity in the gym, firmly establishing HIIT as one of the most popular weight loss tips in the post millennium era. If you're thinking about tackling a HIIT routine, you need to know the basic facts first.

Today you will discover the science behind HIIT and the reason it has become such a practised method in gyms around the world over the last few years.

Despite being over twenty five years old, HIIT is still fairly unheard of in much of the fitness world, with many regular gym users still succumbing to the old strategy of performing long, steady state cardiovascular exercise to hit the often fabled fat burning zone. Thanks to the constantly developing scientific studies behind the health and fitness industry, long steady state cardio is now yesterday's advice for those who are looking to burn unwanted body fat!

HIIT was initially discovered almost by accident, when researchers were trying to discover if exercise could help to prevent our metabolism from lowering as we got older. They noticed that the individuals who had been working at a higher level of intensity in the gym had the far greater weight loss results. Back in 1985 this was big news, but it wasn't until five years later that these results were confirmed in a much more in depth study.

From there, interest in this subject was high and research was being carried out almost every single year. Many athletes adopted it to their own training regime. Sprinters and swimmers were particular fans at this point.

After initially becoming popular during the 1992 Olympics when many sprinters adopted the approach, the first major breakthrough for fat loss studies didn't arrive until 2001. While the fully expected to confirm that HIIT increased the breakdown of carbohydrates, they didn't expect to discover that it also increased fat breakdown, too. Also, they were shocked to see that this increase in fat burning lasted for 14 hours in some subjects. []

So not only was HIIT proven to be effective for losing blubber, it increased the body's ability to burn excess fat for over half a day after the workout had finished!

The study went on to show that it also increased lean muscle mass and prevented muscle breakdown during exercise. The best result of the study, however, was the fact that the HIIT group burnt off over six times more body fat than their steady state cardiovascular counterparts. This showed that one calorie burnt during a HIIT workout was equal to six during regular cardiovascular activity.

Since then, of course, countless new studies have went on to confirm the effectiveness behind interval training and it has become one of the most talked about discoveries in the history of the fitness industry, with countless personal trainers and fitness experts putting their weight behind it.

High intensity interval training is now a fitness principle which is adopted by millions of gym enthusiasts worldwide. Whether you are a personal trainer, a bodybuilder, an athlete or just somebody who is looking to find effective weight loss tips which work quickly, HIIT is here to stay.




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