HIIT and Fat Burning
Continued from High Intensity Interval Training. High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) is sometimes called “hormonal exercise,” because it opens the gates for human growth hormone and testosterone, which accelerate fat loss.
A study in a 2002 issue of the Journal of Applied Physiology reported that high-intensity sprinting produced 96 percent more growth hormone compared to jogging at a significantly slower pace.
Don’t be fooled by the “fat-burning zone” on cardio equipment. Though a higher percentage of fat is burned during fixed-pace moderate aerobics, more total fat is burned via HIIT, because HIIT burns far more calories to begin with.
Plus, only HIIT results in an after-burn. “The real fat-burning zone occurs at levels exceeding 85 percent of max heart rate where the body becomes anaerobic,” says Jade Teta, an exercise physiologist, and strength and conditioning specialist, from Winston-Salem, N.C. “It is at this intensity where the body mobilizes hormones to create a leaner, faster, stronger physique.
This hormonal effect is responsible for the increased caloric consumption induced by excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC). While aerobic exercise is useful, it is unable to produce the same result because the intensity needed to trigger the EPOC phenomenon is never reached.” [source: Lorra Garrick, Your Health Monthly]
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