High-Intensity-Interval-Training increases fat burning more than aerobic exercise. In fact, a few sessions of HIIT per week will turn your body into a fat-burning “machine”.
High-intensity interval training can help burn more fat
“If that stubborn body fat doesn’t go away, consider adding High-Intensity-Interval-Training or HIIT to your exercise routine,” says Professor Zeljko Pedisic.
HIIT boosts fat burning more than aerobic exercise, finds a study recently published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
How was the research conducted?
For the study, researchers pooled the results of 18 controlled intervention studies examining the effects of HIIT on the rate of fat burning during exercise.
The intervention studies included a total of 511 adult participants who did either supervised HIIT, moderate-intensity aerobic exercise, or a no-exercise control group.
The duration of the exercise interventions ranged from 2 to 14 weeks. In almost all studies, participants did three HIIT sessions per week.
What are the main findings?
According to the research, a few sessions of HIIT per week will turn your body into a fat-burning “machine.” HIIT makes you burn more fat, not only during the HIIT sessions, but also during other forms of physical activity, such as brisk walking, swimming and sports.
Fat metabolism will improve after just four weeks of HIIT, and it will continue to improve over time.
After 12 weeks of HIIT, every minute of physical activity can be expected to burn 0.13 grams of extra fat. For someone exercising 150 minutes a week, this could result in about 10 kg (22 pounds) of extra fat burning in a decade.
According to the findings, overweight people can expect a greater increase in fat burning compared to people of “normal” weight.
Although people could also improve their fat metabolism by doing aerobic exercise (eg jogging), this would require a much greater time commitment and the improvements would be smaller.
Why is this important?
These findings could help more than two billion overweight people in the world improve their fat metabolism and reduce weight.
They can also help billions of others avoid unwanted weight gain over time.
Imagine your 10-year-older self with an additional 22 pounds of body fat: HIIT can help you avoid such a change in body composition.
“According to the recent global fitness trend survey, HIIT is one of the most popular types of workouts. If you’re not already doing it, maybe you should give it a try,” concludes Professor Pedisic.
Reference: “Effects of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and sprint interval training (SIT) on fat oxidation during exercise: a systematic review and meta-analysis” by Muhammed M Atakan, Yasemin Guzel, Nipun Shrestha, Sukran N Kosar, Jozo Grgic, Todd A Astorino, Huseyin H Turnagol and Zeljko Pedisic, July 20, 2022, British Journal of Sports Medicine.
DOI: 10.1136/bjsports-2021-105181
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