Why should you be doing high-intensity workouts?

When you head to the gym to complete a workout session on commercial fitness equipment, chances are you are taking strides not only to improve your physical fitness, but to work toward a goal as well. Whether you’re pounding the belt of commercial treadmills in an effort to finish a race or you’re pedaling the stationary bike to lose weight, exercising at a higher intensity will help you achieve your goals more successfully. It can sometimes be a challenge to boost your energy and have a powerful session each and every time. Work stress and life responsibilities can take center stage, meaning you may find yourself saying from time to time, “any sort of workout is better than no workout.” This is certainly true – it’s always better to do some sort of movement throughout your day than stay sedentary, but pushing yourself out of your comfort zone is how you’ll really start to see changes and improvements. Fit Sugar provided some insight as to what makes high-intensity workouts so important: It saves time: In today’s world of go, go, go, we often have too many items on the to-do list. Because of this, setting aside an hour to hit the gym several times a week may not seem feasible with your schedule, but if you do a high-intensity workout you can accomplish more of your fitness goals in less time. A high-intensity session can be both fast and efficient, and you are sure to feel the effects. Using the rate of perceived exertion, you should aim to be at an 8 out of 10 at your most challenging, meaning you’re breathing heavy and you couldn’t carry out a conversation. Just 30 minutes of an intense workout will have you feeling the burn. It gets you out of a rut: Nothing is worse for your motivation than falling into a fitness rut and becoming bored with exercise. Upping the intensity level makes each session more challenging, so you won’t have time to think about being bored. There is a variety of ways to do this from intervals to changing resistance levels, adding arm movements with light weights or changing directions. It helps you lose weight: During intense, faster-paced workouts, your body releases hormones that burn fat both during the exercise and once you’ve completed the session thanks to an increased metabolic rate. This sort of workout also helps target midsection fat, which can be the most challenging to lose. It’s important to get rid of belly fat because it increases the risk of certain cardiovascular diseases.