I don't know if you exercise or not, or if you're into aerobic type training, or lifting weights etc. but I wanted to talk a bit about aerobic type exercises for fitness and fat loss. I always discuss fat loss, not weight loss. Most people's goal is to lose body fat, when you lose a lot of weight much of that is water, muscle and even bone mass - not just fat.
When you think of aerobic exercise you're probably picturing an hour or more on the treadmill, maybe 45 minutes on the exercise bike or, outdoors for a 60-minute jog. This is the traditional fitness & fat loss method, usually performed 3 or more times a week.
Yes it works, but did you know you can cut this down to around 15-20 minutes, 3 times a week and actually achieve quicker and better results? Not just in fat loss, but also in cardiovascular fitness!!!
I'm guessing you've heard of HIIT. High Intensity Interval Training, it's not new but it is the latest craze. In this case though HIIT is here to stay because it gets great results in shorter time and it can be used with running, cycling and other aerobic exercises.
Initially HIIT was going to be written off as useless because testing showed that traditional aerobics (60 minutes or so) burned more fat during the exercise than HIIT. This didn't last, further testing revealed that HIIT burned fat for up to 24 hours after the training session, overall giving you more burn for your buck!
HIIT consists of multiple short, high intensity bursts of effort with small breaks in between. The beauty of this type of exercise is that it can be adapted to any fitness level - you can start with fast walking or cycling and move up to 100 of your best effort for 30-45 seconds rest for 4 minutes then go again. Do this for 4 to 8 repetitions.
Try this 3 or 4 times a week starting with 4 reps (if you're not too fit) and increasing to 8 reps when you're getting fitter! You will be amazed not only with the fat-loss that occurs, but also with your rising fitness levels! - Give it a go. I now spend less time on aerobic workouts and get much better results.