Ready to Burst?
We’re going into the third week of the Maintain Don’t Gain Holiday Challenge at Synergy Personal Fitness Training. This week we are shifting the focus from high rep or endurance training to training with intermittent aerobic bursts.
Fitness experts used to recommend 45 – 60 minutes of moderate intensity exercise as the best way to lose weight, condition your heart and stay in shape. Following this, many people logged hour after hour on the treadmill, elliptical or stationary bike and some never got the results they were looking for. But newer research suggests this approach is not nearly as effective as peppering your workout with short bursts of high intensity aerobic exercise. This approach aims to push your heart rate up to 85 percent of your maximum for short spurts followed by longer periods of moderate exertion and rest.
The benefits of this approach are substantial.
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It increases your metabolism. A study published in “Applied Physiology, Nutrition and Metabolism” showed that high-intensity training increases your body’s ability to metabolize fat and carbohydrates. And, this boost to your metabolism continues up to two hours after your workout is over.
