An Effective Way To Burn Your Fat

During my weekly doses, you will often hear me refer to HIIT. So I though it was about time I explained what HIIT training is, why I use it so much, and how it keeps me fit and lean.

HIIT is short for High Intensity Interval Training. A lot of people have heard of interval training, and have probably used this form of training during their life, but have you ever done HIIT?

What is HIIT Training?

HIIT is the most efficient training method to burn fat and gain muscle simultaneously. HIIT is ideal for time poor people, like myself, as the typical workouts only need to last 30 minutes or less (some variations can be completed in as little as 4 minutes).

HIIT training consists of a series of short, high intensity intervals, followed by low intensity intervals.

How do you do HIIT?

The biggest advantage of HIIT is that it can be completed anywhere, as it can be applied to any form of cardio you can think of. It can also be designed to suit your level of fitness, anyone from a beginner to a professional athlete can benefit from HIIT.

The most common HIIT workouts employ combinations of 30 seconds intervals of high intensity cardio, followed by a low intensity interval of either 90, 60 or 30 seconds. The timing of the low intensity interval is dependent on your level of fitness. The fitter you are the shorter you need to make your low intensity interval.

What is the Difference Between a High and Low Intensity Interval?
During a high intensity interval, you should be operating at a pace where your heart rate is between 80-90% of your maximum. During a low intensity interval, you should be operating with your heart rate between 40-50% of your maximum.

One of the common things that people often talk about in online fitness forums and in the gym is fat. I often see the question does muscle burn fat? The answers I’ve seen and heard vary greatly and I hope I can dispel some of the myths and confirm some of the truths. Burning fat can be easy or hard, it just depends how you approach it.

So getting right down to it the short answer is that muscle does indeed burn fat, that includes all the muscles of your body, even your heart and diaphragm. The conditions have to be right though. Muscle won’t burn fat 24/7 and it won’t even burn as much as some people might think.

Muscle will always burn carbs and sugar before fat. The reason for this is that burning carbs and sugar is much more efficient and easier for the body to do. However when muscle is burning these it will cease burning fat. For many people who have a diet that is high in carbs this is going to be a problem, you see it’s not all that easy for the body to make the switch between burning carbs and fat. The body needs to make a hormonal switch which can take time. This is often why people with high carb diets are also on the large side, it’s because they don’t give their bodies the time to get into fat burning mode.

Does muscle burn fat while you sleep, or do you need to be running miles on the treadmill? The truth is muscle will burn fat any time day or night. In fact muscles will burn fat at almost the same rate while you sleep as while you are sat on the couch.

If you want to burn your body fat you need to take control of your diet. The most effective way to get your body to burn fat is either to eat a paleolithic/primal diet which involves very little carbs and therefore your body switches permanently into fat burning mode, this is also the best way to eat if you have a lot of weight to lose. The second way is to alternate carb and fat ratios in your food. The easiest way to do this is to eat slightly more carbs than normal on days that you work out while minimising your fat intake, and on rest days or days that you do just walking or slow movements you want to eat more fat while minimising the carbs.

Another important question I see is does muscle burn fat fast? After years of study the answer to this one is slightly disappointing. I have seen reports that say that muscle will burn 50 calories per pound of bodyweight per day but the truth is that it’s actually closer to 5 or 6 calories. So if you’re wanting to lose fat don’t count on putting on lots of muscle and then using that to burn of the fat. I have tried that method and it really doesn’t work.