If getting fit, losing weight fast or burning calories is the goal you are aiming for, then be prepared to get down the gym and prepare for high-intensity workouts. Unfortunately, just turning up down at the gym and not breaking into a sweat while you gently walk fast on a treadmill or ride a static bike is not going to go far if you are looking to lose weight, increase fitness and lose that spare tyre around your waist.
To achieve the best results when working out you must be prepared to sweat and push yourself to a limit that will feel a bit painful, especially at first. But it’s important not to overdo it (or underdo it) to achieve the right results more quickly.
High intensity workouts don’t just burn calories, they torch them. If your cardio treadmill machine has one of those electronic calorie burning read outs which counts burned calories, try this little trick: gently jog on a treadmill at 4.2 mph for a period of two minutes, and once you reach the end of that two minutes, take a note of the calories burned so far.
Now try the same exercise (again for two minutes) but this time you should up the speed to a 6.5 mph sprint. You will need to have some degree of fitness in order to be able to run that fast for even this short length of time, so novices should avoid this example. Note the calorie count at the beginning of the 6.5 mph run and note the figure at the end. See the difference?
To those who can’t be bothered to test it out: a two-minute gentle jog at 4.2 mph for a 200lb male burns around 22 calories, but up that speed to 6.5 mph and you can expect to shed 46 calories in the same short period. That’s a big difference over such a small period.
It is also proof that high intensity exercising really does give you bang for your buck when trying to burn calories and lose weight. But it’s important to get the regime right. Try working at optimum levels for 30 seconds (and no more) then slowing down to something comfortable for 90 seconds, before hitting the 30-second sprint again. Repeat seven times. This is far more effective than an hour walk (fast walk) at comfortable pace of 3.9 mph on a treadmill, and the high intensity run will only take you 14 minutes to complete.
