“Exercise feels good when you stop” is one of the quotes in my book.
I have a friend who has achieved some great fitness results and she credits that quote with keeping her on track when it all seems too hard.
Knowing how much better you will feel after you finish your exercise is motivating. But knowing how much good it is doing you after you stop is even more motivation to push yourself that bit harder. It means you get the benefits long after the discomfort has gone.
For a long time, long duration aerobic exercise was the recommended activity for both fat loss and improving fitness. However, more and more research is showing that short duration, high intensity exercise is the way to go. Especially if you are looking for quick improvement in fitness level and fast fat loss.
It seems the higher you can increase your metabolism during the exercise, the longer it stays elevated after you stop. Some fitness enthusiasts call this after burn.
It’s a bit like the interest income you receive on an investment. The higher the initial deposit, the higher the ongoing interest income you get.
Interval training is simply a form of high intensity aerobic exercise in which you alternate periods of high effort and periods of active recovery or rest.
For example, you might walk or run fast (for you) for a period of one minute and then follow it up with walking for one minute, repeating 5-10 times for a less-than-20-minute workout.
One study looked at the effect of exercise intensity on body fat and metabolism. They compared 20 weeks of endurance training with 15 weeks of interval training. They found that although the endurance group actually used more calories while exercising, the interval training group lost nine times more body fat. They attribute this to the increased metabolism after this group finished exercising.
(Tremblay A, Simoneau JA, Bouchard C. Impact of exercise intensity on body fatness and skeletal muscle metabolism. Metabolism. 1994 Jul;43(7):814-8)
Many activities incorporate interval training just by the nature of activity itself. Surfers paddle hard, catch a wave, paddle back out to the break and then sit a wait for the next set. Cyclists, who ride in a group, take turns at the front, pushing into the wind, then go to the back of the group where it is easier. Many other sports involve short bursts of effort with periods of recovery.
If you haven’t yet attempted interval training, try this. Walk for 5 minutes to warm up. Walk or run faster for a minute, then walk for a minute. Repeat this five times, then walk for 5 minutes to cool down. That will take you 20 minutes.
I’ve suggested walking but you can use the same formula for other activities, like cycling, running, rowing or even skipping.
If you find it hard to push yourself, focus on two things:
- how much better you will feel when you slow down, and
- how you’ll be getting benefits long after you have finished.
