If you are like me, you couldn't resist the holiday food. I ate four tons of food over the Christmas weekend. My girlfriend's family is Italian and they love to cook and feed people. Since we always spend Christmas at her house, I went into the holiday knowing that I would be doing some serious damage. As someone who eats a relatively healthy diet year-round, I find the smorgasbord of new tastes and flavors to be intoxicating. I ate cheesecake, chicken cutlets, roast beef, pizza, cookies, calamari, gingerbread houses, turkey, pasta, chocolate, gummy bears and Santa's right leg.
Luckily, I know the right kind of training to quickly reverse the effects of unbridled gluttony and bring my body back to where it needs to be.
The extra pounds
Fat accumulation is the result of taking in more calories than you expend. Since I didn't climb Mount Everest six times over the Christmas weekend, I definitely gained some fat. It is especially visible around my midsection and I don't like it. When it comes to burning off the fat, not all exercise is equal. Sadly, putting on fat is much easier than taking it off.
Before I explain how to lose fat quickly, lets understand something about the body. The body is efficient and smart. It does not respond the same way to jogging as it does to sprinting. Jogging, as a form of low intensity training, is generally done for 30-40 minutes. During that time, the heart rate is slightly elevated and breathing is only marginally accelerated. Because the demand on the body during jogging is not heavy, it does not just burn fat, it burns muscle too. You don't want this. The reason that low intensity training burns both muscle and fat is simple. When jogging, the body says to itself, "I need fuel for this activity, but the activity is not intense. I can vary my fuel sources." The body will burn two different types of fuel for energy because it is not under any pressure to get energy as quickly as possible.
High intensity exercise, like sprinting, is different. Sprinting requires a lot of energy and it is needed quickly. In this case, the body goes to the fastest and most efficient fuel source - your holiday fat.
High Intensity Interval Training
The best form of exercise for losing fat quickly is High Intensity Interval Training. HIIT involves 10-15 short of rounds of all-out intensity for 20 seconds, followed by 40-60 seconds of rest. One can do many things to achieve the intensity - battle ropes, sprinting, jump rope, burpees, rowing... The idea is to move your entire body as fast as you can for 20 seconds and get your heart rate as high as it can go. Each round should leave you winded and tired, but that is what the 40-60 seconds of rest are for. When your breathing and heart rate return to normal, you repeat again.
HIIT's demands on the body are so high that there is no option but to burn fat for fuel. In addition to quickly shedding holiday pounds, this form of exercise will also help you be more muscular. Since muscle tissue is not being metabolized for the workout, HIIT has a muscle-sparing affect. Evidence of this is found in the difference between a sprinter's body and that of a jogger. Sprinters tend to be more muscular and broad than their lanky counterparts.
The best part about HIIT is that, while it is hard, it does not take long. With only 10-15 rounds, the entire session is generally concluded in under 20 minutes. With caloric consumption back to pre-holiday levels, a few HIIT sessions a week will very quickly bring your body back to its lean and athletic state.
If you live in a warm climate, nothing beats hill sprints for getting in the best shape of your life. For those living in cold climates and training indoors, you can sprint on a treadmill and then lower the speed, walking slowly for the rest intervals. Battle ropes, burpees and rowing are also excellent alternatives. Train hard and you'll get the one gift Santa knows nothing about - a lean midsection.
