If burning fat, having loads of energy and staying young are on your MUST-HAVE list then HIIT training is for you!!
I recently attended the World Fitness Expo in Toronto and had the opportunity to hear Dr. Len Kravitz, an exercise science professor and researcher at the University of New Mexico (who was recently inducted into the National Fitness Hall Of Fame!)
He spoke about the most current research on the health benefits of HIIT training and he shared some amazing studies about mitochondria and how HIIT can benefit our health in 3 ways:
#1 - HIIT will increase your ENERGY LEVELS
Let’s get a little nerdy and go back to high-school biology. There are mitochondria (the power plant) in all our cells and this is where our bodies turn the food we eat into ATP.
What’s ATP? It’s the energy that powers our heart, brain, lungs, muscles and every metabolic function we have. It’s the gasoline!
Dr. Kravitz shared with us the recent discoveries from Dr. Martin Gibala of McMaster University. Gibala has proven that HIIT training causes mitochondrial biogenesis.
(P.S. The WORLD’S leading research on HIIT training is coming from McMaster University - go Canada - woot woot!)
Here is what his research shows:
HIIT training produces such a demand for energy within your body, mitochondria multiply AND become 35% bigger in response to that demand - this is mitochondrial biogenesis. This makes your body a powerhouse for the production of ATP.
What does this mean to me and you??? It means ENERGY. Your body gets good at producing energy.
#2 - HIIT is ANTI-AGING
When we experience mitochondrial biogenesis, our cells become uber-functional and can easily fight chronic disease, free radical damage, and age-related dementia.
Researchers use the health of our mitochondria is a bio-marker for aging.
A sedentary lifestyle leads to dysfunctional mitochondria which according to the Journal of Applied Physiology, this leads to :
- Impaired utilization of carbohydrates and fats as energy
- Insulin resistance (leading to diabetes)
- Lower threshold for physical exercise
- Excessive weight gain
- Accelerated aging
- Decline in cognitive function
If you want to stay young - you need to improve the function and the number of your mitochondria!
As Martin Gibala’s research shows, the best (and fastest) method for doing this is HIIT training!
Another important factor in maintaining our youth is the Human Growth Hormone (HGH).
HGH is the foundational biochemical that is associated with muscle loss and atrophy that typically occurs with aging. After age 30, our HGH will start to diminish and aging begins.
HIIT has been scientifically proven to dramatically increase HGH. And as it increases, you turn on the fountain of youth- increasing strength, energy and fat loss - at any age!
#3 - HIIT makes your body a FAT-BURNING MACHINE
Our mitochondria are important for metabolism and fat loss. They take the fatty acids from our fat stores and turns them into energy. Our mitochondria are the fireplace of our fat.
Human Growth Hormone is also important for fat loss. It is responsible for lipolysis, the break down of our fat cells into fatty acids which the mitochondria uses to produce ATP. HGH helps the mitochondria burn fat as fuel.
Since HIIT increases the number and the function of our mitochondria AND it improves our Human Growth Hormone production, our bodies will
- get better at utilizing our fat stores
- slow down (reverse) the aging process
- become stronger and healthier
- turn into FAT BURNING machines
WOOT WOOT!!! Who's up for a HIIT workout??
The effort you put into a HIIT workout is worth it and so are you!!
Click here to check out my HIIT Classes!!!