OK. You are back from vacation and the kids are back in school. You are busier than ever, but you feel the need to add exercise into your day.
What exercise program offers the most reward for a small amount of time invested?
Recently, I was introduced to an unique exercise program that really burns up fat, builds reserve capacity in your heart, triggers the expansion of your lungs and generates the quick release of growth hormone that regards aging. All of this can be done in exercise sessions as short as 10 to 12 minutes. And they NEVER last more than 20 minutes.
It is called interval training. Interval training is short periods of exertion followed by short periods of rest. By increasing the intensity and varying the duration of each interval according to the program, your heart and lungs get the right challenge they need to stay fit and strong AND you increase your potential to lose weight.
Where long-duration exercise causes your heart and lungs to shrink, interval exercise does just the opposite. Long-duration exercise melts fat during your workout. However, it sends a message to your body that you need a reserve of fat available at all times – so the next time you exercise, you’ll have something to throw on the fire.
That’s why you may have such a hard time getting rid of fat at the gym. Every time you melt fat during exercise, you body reacts by making more. This self-defeating cycle ensures that your body makes more fat every time you finish exercising.
On the other hand, interval training triggers an “afterburn.” When you finish the interveral training session, your body starts to melt fat to replace the carbs it just burned. In fact, your body continues to melt fat for up to 24 hours after you finish!
After a while, your body stops making fat all together – it simply doesn’t need it anymore! This afterburn is the key to getting rid of excess body fat – not long hours of boring exercise. Additionally, interval training really builds the reserve capacity of both the heart and lungs which is what is needed to deal with stress.
You can learn more about interval training at these URLs:
Article + Video: http://fitness.mercola.com/sites/fitness/archive/2010/11/13/phil-campbell-on-peak-8-exercises.aspx
Articles: http://www.pacerevolution.com/pace/articles/
Videos: http://www.pacerevolution.com/video/
To your health, fitness and youth,
Dan Ebaugh, L.Ac.
301-920-0801
