Even though high-intensity workouts are typically shorter in length than moderate-intensity, you continue to burn a significant number of calories and fat for hours after your workout stops. Your body has to expend more energy to recover from a high-intensity workout. This additional energy is referred to as post-exercise oxygen consumption or EPOC or the "after-burn." The number of calories your body uses to recover is proportional to the intensity of the exercise you do. As exercise intensity rises the duration and magnitude of the EPOC also increases. During high-intensity exercise, you activate more metabolically-active fast-twitch muscle fibers. This not only burns more calories but causes your body to pump out more fat-burning hormones that mobilize body fat. This hormonal response is key to changing your body composition. Research suggests that high-intensity exercise trumps moderate-intensity exercise when it comes to burning belly fat. It seems to be particularly effective for reducing visceral abdominal fat, the type of fat deep in the pelvic cavity that’s linked with a greater risk for health problems like heart disease and type 2 diabetes. In addition, long periods of moderate-intensity cardio can break down muscle tissue. Therefore, high-intensity exercise is better not only for improving body composition but superior from a health standpoint too.
No equipment is required for this 16 minute metabolism boosting HIIT workout. Remember go breathless with each interval and incinerate fat in no time!
