HIIT TRAINING

When trying to lose weight, you want to burn fat and build lean muscle to continue to burn more fat. HIIT forces your body to use energy from fat as opposed to carbs. This makes losing fat more efficient.

Interval training is built upon alternating short, high-intensity bursts of speed with slower, recovery phases throughout a single workout. Interval training works both the aerobic and the anaerobic system.

During the high-intensity efforts, the anaerobic system uses the energy stored in the muscles (glycogen) for short bursts of activity. Anaerobic metabolism works without oxygen, but the by-product is lactic acid. As lactic acid builds, the athlete enters oxygen debt, and it is during the recovery phase that the heart and lungs work together to “pay back” this oxygen debt and break down the lactic acid. It is in this phase that the aerobic system is using oxygen to convert stored carbohydrates into energy.