Lose Weight Faster With HIIT Training on the Treadmill

By Torii Tompson

If you want to get the most out of your treadmill and lose weight fast, you should consider HIIT, which stands for High Intensity Interval Training. Many people are doing HIIT because it takes less workout time and they lose weight faster. People stick to HIIT because it is a fun way to workout and routines can be varied from workout to workout.

Treadmill owners started showing an interest in HIIT after a study came out reporting that it showed better results than other forms of cardio for fat loss. The study involved participants being divided into two exercise groups for five months. Group one did a steady pace cardio workout for 45 minutes. At the beginning of the five months, group one started working out at 60% of their maximum heart rate. By the end of the study they were up to 85% of their maximum heart rate. Group two worked out the entire five months doing HIIT for 30 minutes.

Group two would start their routine by elevating their heart rates to 70% of their maximum heart rate. They would then follow this up with ten seconds of less intense exercise that decreased their heart rates, and then a 90 second burst of intense exercise that increased their heart rate, again. This was followed up with an interval of exercise that brought their heart rate back down. This HIIT routine was done over and over throughout their workout.

Conclusions of the study found that the participants doing the HIIT, group two, spent less time and energy working out, but they lost three times more body fat than group one. Another important finding was the fat that group two lost was primarily subcutaneous fat, or the fat that lies directly beneath the skin.

What makes HIIT so great for weight loss is your body goes into EPOC, or Excess Post-exercise Oxygen Consumption. In a nutshell, your body requires more oxygen to get back to its resting state which means you continue to burn calories even hours after you have completed a HIIT routine. In fact, a 2002 study showed the resting metabolic rate of participants was still elevated 48 hours later. This is great news for someone who wants to lose weight and get their metabolism boosted.

Doing HIIT with a treadmill makes working out fast and fun. But, keep in mind that HIIT is fairly intense. While HIIT routines should only last between 20 to 30 minutes, you will use every moment of the workout efficiently. After the initial warm up, you will exercise up to your maximum heart rate range. Then you will follow this with intervals of exercise that will lower your heart rate and then raise it back up to your maximum heart rate zone. You can do as many intervals as you would like, or change up the length of the intervals, to give your workout some variance.

Experts recommend that HIIT be done two or three days a week. They don't recommend doing it back to back because it is so intense. To relieve the stress on your body, put a day or two in between your HIIT routines. Don't feel guilty on the days you aren't doing HIIT, relax and know you are still burning calories and losing weight!

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