Yes today we live in a busy world where the clock tick tocks far too quickly and before you know, there is no time to exercise!
Whilst it can be argued that you burn a higher percentage of fat during low intensity exercise performed over an extended time frame, such as going for long walks or doing fasted cardio, the benefit of exercising only for a short period of time cannot be underestimated. Seriously if you want more bang for your buck and don’t want to spend all day exercising, you can achieve great results by exercising in short, hard sessions.
Don’t get me wrong, a simply for a walk for 15 minutes you will still burn more energy than if you sat on the couch!
When you exercise at a high intensity, where you become breathless and fatigued, you will burn carbohydrates stored in your body. Whilst it is not fat burning, it does have great benefits for you, especially if you have eaten too many carbohydrates which could potentially put you at risk of converting excess carbohydrates into fat.
The real benefit of a 15 minute intense cardio session such as sprinting, hill runs or plyometric training comes after the workout has finished. Your body will still burn a lot of energy as you are recovering from the session. Depending on how hard you train, it could take several hours for your body to return to a resting level.
Short hard workouts improve your fitness level so you will be able to progressively exercise for longer periods of time and at a higher intensity in future workouts. The longer and harder you can train, the more energy you burn. And coincidentally, the fitter you are, the more fat you will naturally burn during exercise. Now there’s an incentive!
It is a lot easier to fit blocks of 15 minutes into the day for some rather than committing to an hour of exercise at one go so for those with busy lifestyles, a short intense workout is ideal for them. Don’t forget that the more you can move on a daily basis the more calories you burn and if you look at the bigger weight loss picture this will most definitely assist in someone meeting their calorie expenditure needs. Every little helps!