Introducing short bouts of vigorous activity can speed up weight loss and cut your workout time by up to half or more. Australian researchers found that women who alternated just 8 seconds of high-intensity exercise with 12 seconds of low-intensity activity for 20 minutes, 3 times a week, slimmed down faster than steady-paced exercisers who worked out twice as long. Those who did intervals lost up to 16 pounds, shrunk their bellies by 12% and their thighs by 15%, and gained, on average, 1 1/2 pounds of metabolism-revving muscle in 4 months--without dieting.
Intervals increase calorie burn both during and after exercise, which helps you lose weight faster. They may also work on a biochemical level. Vigorous activity normally produces lactate, a by-product of the breakdown of carbs for energy that inhibits fat burning, says author E. Gail Trapp, PhD. It appears that by doing supershort bouts, lactate production is reduced to blast fat more effectively. At the same time, interval workouts may increase adrenaline, a hormone that helps to burn belly fat.
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