Give yourself 3 minutes to read the passage.
Reading Time: 3 minutes
High-Intensity Interval Training, or HIIT, has had a profound impact on the field of exercise physiology. In contrast to traditional exercise programs, which involve an hour or so of steady exercise a few times a week, HIIT workouts are brief and intense. In a HIIT workout, the participant alternates between high-effort sprinting and low-effort rest periods, for as little as 5 to 10 minutes. Although the overall exercise session is very short, and relatively few calories are burned during the session, HIIT has an unusual effect on the human body. Specifically, after exercising, people who perform a HIIT session burn fat and calories at a higher rate for up to 24 hours. This can be attributed to a phenomenon known as Excess Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption, or EPOC. Studies have shown that HIIT participants lose more fat overall than people who perform traditional workouts; this increase in fat loss is likely due to EPOC, which causes exercisers to lose more fat even when they are not active.
This quality may also make HIIT a useful tool for athletes with limited free time, and for ordinary people who want to get in shape without making a large time commitment. The ability to perform a productive workout in only a few minutes, a few times a week, will likely make exercising more appealing. A number of surveys have revealed that limited time, or a perception that exercise is too time-consuming, is among the most common reasons for a lack of fitness. If HIIT becomes more popular and is promoted appropriately, it is likely to increase the overall level of fitness and enthusiasm towards exercise among the public.
Listen to Track 269.
You have 20 minutes to plan and write your response. Your response will be judged on the basis of the quality of your writing and on how well your response presents the points in the lecture and their relationship to the reading passage. Typically, an effective response will be 150 to 225 words.
Response Time: 20 minutes
Summarize the points made in the lecture, being sure to explain how they challenge the specific points made in the reading passage.