If you want to get the most out of your treadmill and lose weight fast, you should consider HIIT, which stands for High Intensity Interval Training. Many people are doing HIIT because it takes less workout time and they lose weight faster. People stick to HIIT because it is a fun way to workout and routines can be varied from workout to workout.

Treadmill owners started showing an interest in HIIT after a study came out reporting that it showed better results than other forms of cardio for fat loss. The study involved participants being divided into two exercise groups for five months. Group one did a steady pace cardio workout for 45 minutes. At the beginning of the five months, group one started working out at 60% of their maximum heart rate. By the end of the study they were up to 85% of their maximum heart rate. Group two worked out the entire five months doing HIIT for 30 minutes.

The second group did HIIT for 30 minutes. Their workouts consisted of bringing their heart rates up to 70% of their maximum heart rates. Then for ten seconds they would back down on their workout intensity so their heart rates would fall. The group then did a 90 second period of working out that brought their heart rates back up again. Afterwards, they went back down into a lower intense workout so their heart rates would slow down, again. This was repeated throughout their 30 minute workout.

Conclusions of the study found that the participants doing the HIIT, group two, spent less time and energy working out, but they lost three times more body fat than group one. Another important finding was the fat that group two lost was primarily subcutaneous fat, or the fat that lies directly beneath the skin.

So what makes HIIT so powerful for weight loss? After doing HIIT a person’s body goes into what is known as EPOC, or Excess Post-exercise Oxygen Consumption. EPOC is what your body does when it needs more oxygen to return to a resting state. This means after doing HIIT your body is using more oxygen and burning more calories even hours after your workout is completed. One study that was done in 2002 reported that there was an elevated resting metabolic rate in participants even 48 hours later.

Treadmill owners love doing HIIT because it works for so many of them. The added bonus is doing HIIT on a treadmill lets people have a fun workout quickly. HIIT routines are intense, but they should last no more than 20 to 30 minutes. Start your workout warming up to your maximum heart rate range, then cycle in and out of lower heart rate zones and then raise your heart rate back up to it maximum rate, again. Repeat this throughout your workout doing as many, or as few, intervals as you like.

While HIIT is a very popular way to lose weight fast with treadmills, keep in mind that it is not recommend that you do HIIT more than two or three days a week. HIIT works and it does put your body under stress. You shouldn’t do HIIT day after day. But, don’t feel like you are cheating. Your body is still burning fat and calories long after your workout is over!

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