What
Do You Mean Low-Intensity Training Isn't The Best
For Fat Burning?
Find out why high-intensity training may be your
best bet for trimming your waistline and why low
intensity cardio training is NOT where it's at!
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But
how can this possibly be? Everywhere you look, it's
always said that long-duration, low-intensity training
is best for fat loss. All high-intensity work does is
burn carbohydrates, right?
Wrong.
After
reading this article, I guarantee you'll develop a new
respect for high-intensity cardio training for fat loss.
Low-intensity
exercise is defined as working at a heart rate of about
60% to 65% of your maximum heart rate (which is equal
to 220 - your age = maximum heart rate, thus if you
are 20 years old, 220 - 20 = 200 max HR). High-intensity
exercise is defined as working at about 75 to 85% or
more of your maximum heart rate.
Using
the previous example for maximum heart rate (max HR=200),
working at 60% of your max HR would be 120 beats per
minute and 80% of that would be 160 beats per minute.
There are several reasons low-intensity exercise is
normally recommended for fat loss.
1.
It's easy - In many cases people who are trying
to lose fat don't always feel energetic enough to do
hard training due to the caloric deficit (a.k.a. diet)
that they are on. In these cases, just sticking to an
exercise program can be hard enough, never mind making
the exercise itself challenging.
2.
It's low risk - A personal trainer generally can't
go wrong by recommending low-intensity exercise to clients.
Even the most out of shape person can usually do low-intensity
cardio training safely. While this is certainly appropriate
advice for novice trainers, it does not necessarily
apply to the more experienced trainer when it comes
to effective training.
3.
It burns a higher percentage of calories from fat
- this is very true: exercising at a lower intensity
does burn a higher percentage of calories from fat than
high-intensity exercise. But, as I will explain, this
does not necessarily mean you're going to burn more
fat.
Let's crunch some numbers to show you exactly what I
mean when I say high-intensity exercise burns more fat.
Low-intensity
training burns about 50% fat for energy while high-intensity
training burns about 40% fat for energy. This is not
a huge difference.
Say,
for example, walking for 20 minutes burns 100 calories.
Then 50% of 100 calories is 50 fat-calories burned.
Now
say 10 minutes of interval training at a high intensity
burns 160 calories. Well, 40% of 160 calories is 64
fat-calories burned.
By
doing the high-intensity work, you've just burned 14
more fat calories in half the time. Starting to sound
good? There's more...
---
Low-intensity
exercise only burns calories while you are actually
exercising. That means the moment you stop exercising,
your caloric expenditure goes back down to nearly baseline
levels. Within minutes, you're not burning many more
calories than if you hadn't done anything at all.
High-intensity
exercise, on the other hand, continues to boost your
metabolism long after you're done (often up to 24 hours
after, depending on the length and intensity of the
training session). This means you're continuing to burn
many more calories all day long!
---
Low-intensity
exercise does nothing to build or support muscle mass.
Maintaining muscle mass is critical to an effective
fat-loss strategy as muscle burns fat just sitting there.
Want to keep your metabolism working to burn fat? Do
whatever you can to build or keep your muscle tissue.
High-intensity
exercise has the potential to increase muscle mass.
Compare the body of a top sprinter to a top marathon
runner. The sprinter carries far more muscle mass. You
won't get big bulky muscles from high intensity training
but you will get shapely and more defined muscles!
---
How
To Do It
Now
that you've seen how effective high intensity training
can be for fat loss, how is it done?
The
absolute easiest way to start this type of training
is to get on a cardio machine at the gym and select
the interval training program. As you'll see, you'll
start off with a fairly light warm-up cycle, then quickly
jump up to a high intensity level for a short burst.
You will then drop back down to a low level for a period
of time, then back up to a high level again, repeated
several times and finishing with an appropriate cool-down
period.
The
repetition of these intervals is the nuts and bolts
of high intensity interval training. You can also do
it manually by adjusting your intensity level up and
down over short periods of time.
For
example, do 30 seconds at high power then 30 seconds
at low power. Repeat. It's very simple and very effective.
Another
excellent method for doing high-intensity training is
called aerobic interval training. It is essentially
the same concept as the previously explained interval
training but the work intervals are longer with the
intensity level somewhat lower. A good example would
be running at a pace that you can only keep up for about
5 minutes then walking for 2 minutes then running 5
more minutes, walking 2 minutes, etc.
High-intensity
training can be applied to any form of cardiovascular
exercise. Anything from walking/sprinting to swimming
to bike riding will work perfectly. I would recommend
doing his type of training 2 to 3 times per week for
best results. As always, be sure to consult with your
physician before starting any exercise program.
---
Remember,
what you get out of exercise is directly proportional
to what you put in. Work at high-intensity training
for awhile and see just how much better your fat-loss
efforts go.
For
more information on cardiovascular training, including
advice on activities you can do, reviews of different
types of cardio machines, other forms of cardio training,
and some well-explained, useful, basic physiology, visit
out free fitness library by clicking
here.
