Myth Busting

A popular belief in the fitness industry is that low intensity, long duration exercise is the most effective way to lose fat, but I, and many others, say nay!

Dr. Angelo Tremblay and his colleagues at the Physical Activities Sciences Laboratory in Quebec, Canada compared the impact of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise and high-intensity interval training on fat loss. Skinfold measurements revealed that the interval training group lost more body fat. Moreover, when they took into account the fact that the interval training used less energy during the workouts, the fat loss was 9 times more efficient than the aerobics program. In short, the interval training group got 9 times more fat-loss benefit for every calorie burned exercising. How can that be?

Because, after taking muscle biopsies, measuring muscle enzyme activity, and lipid utilization in the post exercise state, they found that high-intensity intermittent exercise caused more calories and fat to be burned following the workout. In addition, they found that appetite is suppressed more after intense intervals.

One of the many reasons I love interval training, or any form of strength training, is that your metabolism stays elevated for up to 48 hours after you're done working out in order to repair your muscles and make them stronger. Compare that to, say, jogging when as soon as you stop, you stop burning calories. Over time, you will burn much more fat and look a lot better when you focus on strength and interval training. When people neglect strength training, they will always look a little, well, flabby. Without muscle mass to keep your metabolism elevated, you're far more likely to put weight back on later on in life.

Did you know??
~It takes 10 calories per day just to keep a pound of muscle alive. An additional five pounds of muslce will burn up to 1500 calories per month which is equivalent to 5 pounds of fat burned per year!~

Just looking at walking versus running as a means for fat loss, higher intensity cardio training is still superior to low intensity.  Just read this article to see what I mean:

http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/busting-the-great-myths-of-fat-burning.html

So pick up the pace people! You'll spend less time exercising and get far more benefits!

In wellness,
Cassandra Wyzik
B.S. - ACSM Certified Personal Trainer
Fit To You Brevard
Satellite Beach, Florida
"Fitness for every body!"