What Works Better Than Endurance Exercise? Interval Training Does!

• September
• 28

5:10 am Exercise

Interval training and HIIT, has been used by me for over 10 years. HGH, your natural fat burning hormone is greatly sped up, as well as your metabolism, and this lets you get rid of much more fat on the body than simply dieting will. This isn’t any new information for the people that already know about interval training. The thing that is not widely known, it that you can better do endurance exercise, when you do interval training.

The Interval Training Study With Surprising Results

16 subjects divided into two groups was used in a study that was published in the Journal of Applied Physiology in 2005. Eight of the people were a control group that did nothing over two weeks, and the other eight people did sprint intervals for two weeks. Before the two weeks, and after the two weeks, both of the groups were tested for their endurance. They found that the interval group doubled their “endurance capacity” in this short time period!

Better Endurance Benefits Than Endurance Exercise

So we know that HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) has been proven to increase endurance more than people who do nothing, but what about people who do endurance exercise? The researchers say that the result of their interval study is…”comparable to or higher than previously reported aerobic-based training studies of similar duration”. The endurance capacity was increased by the subjects involved in the study, more than an endurance study, in which the participants did endurance exercises for 20 hours in total, over a period of two weeks (5 days a week, 2 hours per day).

15 Minutes of HIIT vs 2 Hours of “Regular” Cardio?

It is a little insane, when you contemplate that by doing HIIT, you can increase your endurance capacity in greater amounts, than by doing the actual endurance exercise. For a whole lot of people, this will be a totally new change for them. This study isn’t new by any means, but this info still hasn’t reached mainstream. To this day, I rarely see people doing any type of interval work in the gym. This is something that makes no real sense at all! We have known for 15+ years that HIIT is superior to burning fat…and for the past 5 years that interval training may be one of the best ways to increase endurance.

How Can Endurance Athletes Benefit?

I still believe that you must include endurance exercise if you are an endurance athlete. To be able to withstand the pain that comes from endurance exercise, the tendons and muscles must be strengthened. My recommendation, is along with your endurance training, also do a mix of intervals. In this way, you can get a great benefit from using both exercises.

How Does This Help Everyone Else?

I like to “milk” a little more fat burning after HIIT by throwing in some steady state cardio. This also conditions my body and joints a bit for sports that require me to run for extended periods. It is wonderful when you can run for 20-30 minutes, and not have to suffer through body aches for a few days afterward. But, I only do this 1-2 times a week now. If you are just after getting lean there probably isn’t any real need for long periods of steady state cardio.