The 15-Minuet Fat-Burning Workout

Interval-training workouts give you better results in less time – no wonder they’re popular in gyms around the country. But they don’t just help you burn fat fast. They build stamina, boost cardiovascular fitness and can be done just about anywhere. What exactly are they? Read on to find out how to incorporate intervals into your fat-burning workout...

When time is scarce, exercise is often the first thing to go from the to-do list. For busy women, it can be difficult to manage even 30 minutes a day, the minimum recommended by research organizations like the American College of Sports Medicine. But what if you could squeeze in a fat-burning workout in half that time? Instead of spending 30-60 minutes plodding along on a treadmill, you can get the same benefits from 15 minutes of interval training, researchers have found. “Regardless of your fitness background, intervals are more efficient,  Interval training alternates strenuous exercise with moderate rest periods every few minutes or less. Because your body has a hard time adjusting to the unpredictable activity, you gain endurance and power more quickly, studies show. 

In a 2010 study at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada, participants sprinted on a stationary bike for 10 one-minute periods with 75 seconds of rest in between, three times a week. They experienced the same improvements in fitness as those who performed hours of conventional biking at an easy pace.In a 2009 study, participants did 4-6 intervals, alternating 30 seconds of high-intensity cycling with four minutes of easy cycling. They raised their metabolism, making their bodies more efficient at using glucose, after doing just six of these workouts over the course of two weeks, according to researchers at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Interval-training workouts widen the network of blood vessels that supply muscles and boost the number of mitochondria (structures that produce energy within the body’s cells), thereby increasing endurance.But, fair warning: You do have to work hard during the high-intensity periods to make this a fat-burning workout – maybe harder than you’re used to. I prefer interval training just for the fact that it pushes me harder and takes me to a place that not many people really want to go, it's uncomfortable and hard but in the end makes you feel so f--king good! Try it!  ✿