Twenty Minute Weight Loss Solution

Most people do not have a lot of time to devote to exercising. We live in a fast-paced society, yet our daily obligations have not decreased. Therefore, it behooves us to make the most of our time. We need to make every minute count as two. When it comes to exercise, High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) provides the maximum return of investment of time spent working out. HIIT is hands-down the most effective exercise regimen for loosing weight, burning calories and increasing cardiovascular fitness.

Practicing HIIT just twenty minutes every other day will maximize your weight loss efforts. While twenty minutes does not seem like an adequate amount of time exercising, experts do not recommend practicing HIIT for more than 30 minutes every other day. HIIT is an extremely powerful exercise tool. As with yoga, it looks deceptively easy, feels mostly easy, but delivers amazing results.

HIIT is designed to naturally kick the body's metabolism into high gear. The basic principle of HIIT is to slowly increase the effort required to perform the exercise until the body reaches a near-maximum burnout point. The near-maximum burnout point is held for one minute, and then the effort level is reduced low, and the cycle of slowly increasing repeats itself. This cycle gets repeated four times, and at the end of the fourth cycle, effort is increased to maximum burnout and held for one minute before being reduced. Keep in mind, however, that a minute at maximum burnout will feel very difficult and you may want to quit. But you're only going at full speed for a single minute. This minute is the most important minute of the entire exercise, so don't quit just because it gets a little tough.

The reason this method of exercising is so effective is that the building up to maximum burnout and then switching to a low effort tricks the body into burning calories. The body cannot predict when and for how long it will be in maximum burnout mode, so it naturally ramps up the metabolism to prepare. The body then remains in this high metabolism burning rate for many hours, so every activity you perform throughout the rest of the day burns more calories than normal. This is how HIIT delivers such a high return on investment of your time spent exercising.

Now that you've had a quick introduction to how HIIT works, here is how you can make it work for you. HIIT can be applied to virtually any form of exercise, but for this example, I will use a treadmill, as it is one of the easiest forms of exercise. Another benefit of HIIT is that you can custom tailor the level of effort to suit your needs. As you grow stronger, you can increase the intensity levels to suit your needs. To practice HIIT for a twenty minute session, use the following as your guide. Next to each minute is a suggested speed level for the treadmill.

Minute 0: Speed 2 (slow walk/warm-up)

Minute 1: Speed 3 (slow walk)

Minute 2: Speed 3.5 (walk)

Minute 3: Speed 4 (fast walk)

Minute 4: Speed 4.5 (light jog)

Minute 5: Speed 3 (slow walk)

Minute 6: Speed 3.5 (walk)

Minute 7: Speed 4 (fast walk)

Minute 8: Speed 4.5 (light jog)

Minute 9: Speed 3 (slow walk)

Minute 10: Speed 3.5 (walk)

Minute 11: Speed 4 (fast walk)

Minute 12: Speed 4.5 (light jog)

Minute 13: Speed 3 (slow walk)

Minute 14: Speed 3.5 (walk)

Minute 15: Speed 4 (fast walk)

Minute 16: Speed 4.5 (light jog)

Minute 17: Speed 5 (jog/light run)

Minute 18: Speed 3 (walk)

Minute 19: Speed 2 (slow walk/cool-down)

As your body gets used to the exertion, you can vary the routine by increasing the incline level for each session. This will keep the workout fresh and prevent your body from predicting the level of effort required to perform the exercise, and will help keep a weight loss plateau from occurring.

You're probably thinking: that's it? That's all I have to do? That's easy! And it really is. Just pop on some headphones, exercise for twenty minutes, and you're done for the day. Those twenty minutes will pass by like they're nothing. Twenty minutes is all it takes to start losing weight. It's a great way to ease into exercising if you are not accustomed to exercising regularly. Combine HIIT with a simple healthy diet and you will see results very quickly.