I discovered a research study that shows us how to get the fitness benefits of interval training in just 2 minutes.
Now I know it sounds easier just to go for a jog than to do intervals, and you probably think you’ll burn a lot of calories when jogging, but realize this:
“Overestimating calorie burn is the Big Daddy of runners’ weight-loss mistakes,” says Lisa Ellis, M.S., R.D., a nutritionist in New York.
The average man burns just 124 calories per mile and the average woman burns 105, which means jogging a mile-and-a-half in 20 minutes doesn’t even burn 200 calories. And most folks drink over 200 calories per day in soda, juice, or flavored coffees. That’s why jogging doesn’t get you results.
As you also know, intervals are superior to slow cardio for fat loss, and are even better at increasing your fitness levels (as are bodyweight workouts).
“Research has shown that high-intensity interval training can burn 15 to 20 percent more calories than a moderate, steady workout of the same duration,” says Cedric Bryant, chief science officer for the American Council on Exercise.
That’s why we get more results in less time with intervals.
And researchers at the Universities of Leeds, Glasgow, and Cambridge, now show us a faster way to get fit. Here’s what they studied:
• Group A: 4 intervals of 30 seconds with 4.5 minutes rest between each
• Group B: 1 interval of 2-minutes straight, no rest
Group B tried to maintain the intensity of the short intervals for 2 minutes. Eventually they got tired and slowed down, but they kept going.
Results showed the SAME health benefits from doing the single interval.
(Ref: Whytea, L.J., et al. Effects of single bout of high-intensity exercise on metabolic health in overweight sedentary men. Metabolism: 62: 212, 2013.)
That saves a lot of time.
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