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HIIT for getting leaner and fasting revisited
My twenties are coming to an end in a couple of months, and as I recount my formative years, only one thing springs to my mind.
Perspective.
You see the beautiful thing about getting older is, you realize how much of an ignoramus you were the year before, and the year prior to that. You have a mature understanding of what resonates with you, so you start removing yourself from circles, activities, and ideals that don’t jibe particularly well with you.
Right now, some of you need a psychological kick in the butt to move away from certain diet and exercise trends because all they’re doing is adding more layers of confusion.
Q: Is HIIT (high intensity interval training) a superior method for getting leaner?
A: Based on the current body of literature there’s seem to be no significant difference between traditional cardio and HIIT in that context. This might be a bit of a shocker to many of you because it wasn’t that long ago where it was generally thought that HIIT would maximize your rate of progress. Admittedly, I let my initial impression on it sways me too and got carried away with the purported benefits, but in retrospect, the only advantage of adding HIIT into your training for getting leaner is it’s time-efficient and less boring. And from a practical standpoint, those are variables worth taking into consideration for long-term training adherence. To that end, it’s worth noting that relying on your workouts to reshape your body isn’t how to do things. The main vehicle for getting leaner has always unequivocally been through good dietary habits.
Q: I know a lot of people who have had success with intermittent fasting. Is it worth it?
A: I distinctly remember when intermittent fasting started to gain traction. It was touted as the strategy for concurrent muscle building and fat loss. There are indeed potential health benefits, but outside of that there’s really nothing special about it. You have to understand that with any nutrition game plan, it comes down to controlling your daily food intake and managing your appetite over a period of time. Intermittent fasting (or time-restricted feeding) is more or less just a convenient way of carrying those tasks out.
