Are HIIT Workouts More Efficient In Burning Calories Than Running?

Yes they certainly are if you do a High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) workout.  The best part is you can do a HIIT working utilizing just a number body weight exercises or weights.

A HIIT workout consists of a number of intensive intervals followed by a rest period. The intense training periods can be anywhere between 5 seconds and 8 minutes long and run on 80-95% of your estimated maximum heart rate. That is to say that the intensity is very high!

Why HIIT?

-It promotes the the “afterburn” effect. Training at high intensity is more effective for fat burning then if you exercise for a long duration of slow cardio, or periods of heavy and light exercise alternations. You burn a lot of calories after you do a short intense workouts (HIIT) post-workout. This is called the "afterburn" effect.  Strictly cardio workouts, such as running, do not stimulate the afterburn effect, therefore you are only burning calories during the time that you are running.

-It increases your insulin sensitivity. If you are more sensitive to insulin, the less insulin you need to perform the same performance as someone with low insulin sensitivity. The more insulin in your blood, the less effective you are at burning fat. This has a great effect on how well you can in terms of carbohydrate digestion and whether those carbohydrates affect you negatively by storing more fat. 

-It stimulates your growth hormones. Growth hormones make your body effective for fat burning, especially during sleep and is responsible for the recovery of cells, such as muscle and skin cells, and the combustion of other cells such as fat cells. The higher the production of growth hormone, the more fat you burn. In addition, HIIT workouts also stimulate testosterone. These two hormones are a killer combination to burn with fat and muscle to grow. Namely muscle burns more fat than fat tissue.

An added bonus: you can always do HIIT anywhere without a gym or fitness equipment.

Want a sample HIIT workout?  Click Here To Download.

Want a sample HIIT workout?  Click Here To Download.