I don’t know how many other ways I could possibly say it – traditional long, slow, boring cardio is not magic!
The latest research from McMaster University suggests 20 minutes of intense activity three times a week, is about the same as two hours of moderate exercise, seven days a week.
The research involved subjects who performed between four and six 30-second bursts of all out cycling, separated by four minutes of recovery.
The others performed 120 minutes of continuous moderate intensity cycling.
Both groups showed similar improvements in exercise performance and the muscle’s ability to resist fatigue.
And it also works for those of you looking to lose weight.
The researchers say your body continues to burn calories during recovery.
That last line is the key. Obviously, the number of calories you burn during the session has to mean something, but what’s even more important – especially if you’re trying to lose weight – is the total number of calories you burn all day, even while you’re asleep.
It’s intensity, not duration, that’s most important for maximal fat loss.
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
High intensity is great if your goal is weight loss, not fat loss. When you do high intensity exercises, your body first reaches for your most valuable energy source, carbs. The more energy you use, the more your body uses carbs to fuel your intense workout. FAT is not your number 1 energy source, it’s carbs/muscles.
True, but just in the short term.
The whole truth is that your body likes to hold on to a certain amount of stored carbs (glycogen).
Even though you burn mostly carbs DURING your high intensity workout, you continue to burn more calories in the gluconeogenesis process in which your body brings your glycogen levels back where they were.
Here’s the study that I thought got rid to the anti-HIT myth years ago:
Tremblay A, Simoneau JA, Bouchard C.
Impact of exercise intensity on body fatness and skeletal muscle metabolism. Metabolism. 1994 Jul;43(7):814-8
20 weeks of long, slow cardio vs. 15 weeks of interval training:
Total calories of long, slow cardio = 28661 calories
Total calories spent in High Intensity training = 13614 calories (less than half)
The interval training group showed a nine times greater loss in subcutaneous fat per calorie burned during the actual exercise.
Study after study has shown it’s NOT the prime substrate used DURING the exercise that matters.
And it’s NOT even the number of calories burned DURING the exercise that matters.
What matters is the number of calories burned all day long – whether it’s from EPOC (excess postexercise oxygen consumption), hormonal influences, gluconeogenesis, etc.
(Check out this more recent post from Craig Ballantyne: http://www.blog.stephenholtfitness.com/517/7-weight-loss-tips-cardio-fat-loss-workout-exercise-routine-burn-fat-lose-weight-weight-loss-intervals-bodyweight-exercise/