There has been plenty of talk about the need to do lots of steps, with lots of us regularly checking our devices to see how many steps we have achieved in day. If you have ever recorded your steps you will know that it actually quite difficult to reach the much talked about 10,000 steps in one day, especially if you have a fairly sedentary job.
Most of us lead very busy lives and we have to put a lot of our time and energy into our work. We all need to figure out how to squeeze an effective fitness routine into the limited time that we have available? The good news is that HIIT looks like it might be a shortcut to fitness which doesn’t take anywhere nearly as much of our time as 10,000 steps.
HIIT, or high-intensity interval training, is a training technique in which you give 100% effort through quick, intense bursts of exercise, followed by short, sometimes active, recovery periods. This type of training gets and keeps your heart rate up and burns more fat in less time. HIIT increases the body’s need for oxygen during the effort creating an oxygen shortage. Your body compensates by demanding more oxygen during recover. This effect is called’ excess [post-exercise oxygen consumption is the key reason why intense exercise is more effective at burning fat than slower, steadier exercise.
--- Dr. Palaniappan Manickam MD, MPH Internal Medicine | Gastroenterology | Epidemiologist ---
