Friday, May 1, 2009

Does Interval Training Really Work?

By Peter Falson-Harper

I know as well as anyone how mind numbingly confusing it can be when you are trying to find out the best way to lose body fat. There are so many different ways and recommendations that it can make your head spin. So what is the most effective way for you to lose weight and trim up your body?

Scientific testing has shown that during a heavy cardio session the body burns glycogen from the muscles before using your store of body fat. Glycogen is a form of carbohydrate that is designed for quick release when needed. If glycogen isn't used or burnt up then it will be stored in your body as fat for later use.

To put the icing on the cake, when your store of glycogen gets low, the carbohydrates from your food you eat will later get converted into glycogen to fill up the store and won't be converted to body fat when they are left unused for energy.

Really high intensity cardio will boost your bodies ability to burn fat even after your workout is finished. What this means, is that your body will continue to burn body fat for hours after you have left the gym. This effect is not experienced in low intensity cardio or aerobic activity.

As you get fitter with a high level of intensity you will be able to burn far more calories later on as you up the intensity even more. This allows for progressive loss of body fat as you become stronger.

But there is a way to get the best of both high intensity cardio that burns calories fast and low intensity cardio that burns body fat but only slowly. It is called interval training and involves a cycling of your cardio within one routine. For example, start of gently with 10 minutes of brisk walking or gentle rowing followed by a sprint or burst of intensity for say 2 minutes. You can then cycle through this until you can no longer continue.

As you continue to train your body with interval training you will find that your energy levels go through the roof. The body has to preserve itself and so stores more glycogen in the muscles to ensure it has enough to cope with the new demand.

You really should give interval training a go because it can have dramatic effects on all areas of your life, including energy levels, concentration and confidence. And once you start seeing differences in your body shape you will know that you are on the wonderful road to fitness, health and beauty.

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