Fitness and Muscle

Health, Muscle & Fitness Articles Section

Home - Fitness & Muscle | Muscle Building Articles | Cardio Articles | Fitness Equipment Articles | Weight Loss Articles | Exercise Articles | Yoga Articles | Supplement Articles | Exercise Motivation Articles | Nutrition Articles | Acne Articles | Breast Cancer Articles | Beauty Articles | Attraction Articles | Dating Articles | Depression Articles | Diabetes Articles | Goal Setting Articles | Hair Loss Articles | Martial Arts Articles | Meditation Articles | Motivation Articles | Pregnancy Articles


What Do You Mean Low-Intensity Training Isn't The Best For Fat Burning?


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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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 go to: http://www.fitstep.com/Library/Info/Info.htm?news

    About The Author

    Nick Nilsson is Vice President of BetterU, Inc., an online exercise, fitness, and personal training company. Check out his latest eBook "The Best Exercises You've Never Heard Of" at http://www.thebestexercises.com or visit http://www.fitstep.com. You can contact him at betteru@fitstep.com or subscribe to BetterU News, his fitness newsletter at betterunews@fitstep.com.


    MORE RESOURCES:



    dumbbell routines and exercises

    Dumbbell Routines & Exercises eBook - Click Here

    Increase Your Muscle Size And Improve Your Physical Fitness In 90 Days Or You Get To Keep This Breakthrough eBook FREE!

    "Dumbbell Exercises and Lifting Routines To Help You Gain More Muscle, Lose Weight, or Just Get Yourself in Better Physical Shape... WITHOUT the Hassles, and Expenses of Health Clubs"

    "Instant Access to An Illustrated, PDF Ebook That Will Give YOU The Routines You Need To Get In Better Shape in 90 Days or less - Or Your Money Back!" Get the scoop here.

    Increase Your Muscle Size And Improve Your Physical Fitness In 90 Days Or You Get To Keep This Breakthrough Fitness Guide FREE!


    "Instant Access to An Illustrated, Downloadable Guide That Will Give YOU The Routines You Need To Get In Better Shape in 90 Days or Less - Or Your Money Back! Learn More."


    Serious Fitness Supplements - Muscle Builders

    Hyper Gain Creatine CompoundHyper Gain
    Introducing "Hyper Gain"... The First 100% Bioavailable Buffered Creatine Compound With 100% Stable Uptake And ZERO Toxic Conversion That Lives Up To Its Claims Of Huge Gains In Muscle Mass.

    Jacked Up
    New Anabolic Compound Can Bring Your Post Cycle Testosterone Levels Back To Normal (And Beyond) As Quickly As Possible.

    Xenomine
    "New Fat Burner Produces 43% Faster Loss Of Unwanted Body Fat… Without Side Effects!" Landmark scientific trial in the "American Journal of Clinical Nutrition" proves the ingredients in Xenomine can rapidly and dramatically burn off unwanted body fat… without the over-stimulation and side effects of Ephedra.


    Muscle Building Growth program "A Completely Different Approach To Bodybuilding That Can Build Your Physique To Its Maximum Genetic Potential!"

    "Break Free From Your Current Rut By Utilizing Muscle Building Volume Training Techniques"

    A step-by-step guide that teaches you the secrets, tips, and techniques you need to know to build a chiseled, muscular, ripped, head-turning physique...FAST!

    The "Hyper-Growth Muscle Mass Training" course is an extremely effective natural human growth hormone stimulator and packs on slabs of muscle mass, size and enourages hypertrophy faster than you would've ever thought possible...while burning off body fat like crazy!

    Highly recommended! Click Here For Maximum Muscle Growth








    Fitness-and-Muscle.com Site Navigation
    Home Page | Muscle Fitness Magazine | Muscle Fitness Hers | Fitness Supplements | Muscle Supplements | Fitness Muscle Equipment | Muscle Building | Fitness Competition | Muscle Compeititon | Arm Muscles | Home Fitness Workout | Huge Muscles | Muscle Building Workout | Fitness Muscle DVDs | Fitness Accessories | Fitness Dating | Muscle Fitness Articles | Muscle Links | Contact Us