If you haven’t figured it out by now or joined the times, slow and steady, long-duration cardio is passé. Don’t get me wrong, some form of exercise is always better than none, but aimlessly spinning the cranks on a stationary bike while reading the Times Journal is just flat-out boring.

Sure, you might be able to get a decent caloric expenditure in that arduous, two-hour workout, but once your feet leave the pedals, your metabolism will go back behind the woodshed for a nap.

That’s where the beauty of HIIT comes into play. In case you are in fact living in the dark ages and have not heard of this training modality before, HIIT stands for high intensity interval training. This HIIT might hurt at first, but that pain will soon wear off and it is definitely worth the sacrifice. Continue reading →

Did you know that not all fat is created equally? The fat around your thighs is different from the fat around your middle. The fat you can pinch with your hands (called subcutaneous fat) and the fat that surrounds your abdominal organs (called visceral fat) are different from one another.

Visceral fat is the type of fat that collects around the inside organs of your abdomen, including your liver, your stomach, your peritoneal tissue, and your intestines.

Visceral fat is toxic to your body and it affects your body’s metabolism. Visceral fat makes cytokines that cause inflammation and can increase your risk of developing heart disease, such as a heart attack, stroke, or peripheral vascular disease. This type of fat also causes insulin resistance, which ultimately leads to diabetes mellitus (type 2). Continue reading →