Really looking forward to reading more of your blog. Thanx for the workout/weightloss advice!
In the last update I talked to you about the massive shortcomings of “slow-go” aerobic exercise for fat loss and began to briefly touch on the benefits of something much more effective – short duration, high intensity exercise.
Simply put, if you are looking for the fastest fat loss results, high intensity exercise is a MUST.
Short duration, high intensity exercise comes in two major forms: metabolic resistance training and interval training. Today, I want to take a DEEP look into the benefits of each.
First up, metabolic resistance training:
As mentioned in my previous post, metabolic resistance training is simply “cardio with weights”, and when speaking of the most effective form of exercise for the fastest possible fat loss, this is it.
A couple of studies to support this that my buddy Alwyn Cosgrove dug up:
Schuenke MD, Mikat RP, McBride JM.
Effect of an acute period of resistance exercise on excess post-exercise oxygen consumption: implications for body mass management.
Eur J Appl Physiol. 2002 Mar;86(5):411-7. Epub 2002 Jan 29.
In this study a 30-minute circuit style metabolic resistance training session was put to the test. The result was a 38 hour increase in metabolism – massive AFTERBURN.
Let’s put this in perspective: Say that you worked out at 8AM on Friday. By way of metabolic resistance training, you’d still be burning calories from that workout while out at the movies on Saturday night.
You want to burn calories by watching Wolverine? Now you can.
Here’s another:
Kramer, Volek et al.
Influence of exercise training on physiological and performance changes with weight loss in men.
Med. Sci. Sports Exerc., Vol. 31, No. 9, pp. 1320-1329, 1999.
This study showed that those who added metabolic resistance training to a reduced calorie diet burned up to 44% more fat than those who dieted alone.
Don’t get me wrong, diet is the NUMBER ONE component of the fat loss puzzle, but once you’ve got that down, metabolic resistance training can really take your results to a whole new level.
And here’s one more:
Bryner RW, Ullrich IH, Sauers J, Donley D, Hornsby G, Kolar M, Yeater R.
Effects of resistance vs. aerobic training combined with an 800 calorie liquid diet on lean body mass and resting metabolic rate.
J Am Coll Nutr. 1999 Apr;18(2):115-21.
This study compared “slow-go” aerobic exercise to metabolic resistance training and found that the resistance group lost significantly more fat without losing ANY lean muscle even at an extremely low calorie intake (not so for the aerobic group).
In fact, believe it or not, while the aerobic group experienced a decrease in metabolism (and lost muscle), the resistance training group actually increased overall metabolic rate.
THAT’S the power of metabolic resistance training.
Convinced that metabolic resistance training flat out WORKS? Good. Next up, interval training:
Interval training is simply a form of high intensity cardio in which you alternate back and forth between periods of high effort and periods of active recovery.
For example, you may run very hard for a period of one minute and then follow it up with walking for one minute, repeating 8-10 times for a less-than-20-minute workout.
Does it work?
Tremblay A, Simoneau JA, Bouchard C.
Impact of exercise intensity on body fatness and skeletal muscle metabolism.
Metabolism. 1994 Jul;43(7):814-8
Are you sitting down? If not, take a seat.
You want to know what happened when this research group compared 20 weeks of endurance training vs. 15 weeks of interval training?
While the aerobic/endurance group actually managed to burn more total calories during exercise, the interval training group lost NINE TIMES more body fat. NINE TIMES.
Nine times more fat loss in half the time? The clear choice for fat loss is interval training.
And it all comes down to elevated metabolism after your workout is completed – the afterburn.
Are you experiencing the afterburn?
Give me at least 700 comments and I’ll be back tomorrow with some sample interval training workouts and a post you won’t want to miss!
Talk to you in the comments section!
Joel
P.S. Every so often, something crosses my desk that’s just too good not to share with you. Well, my buddy and uber nutritionist Kyle Leon is at it again:
==> Metabolism trick to OVERCOME your genetics (actually works)
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835 comments - add yours
Great information I totally agreee
Man – I want to know a sample of HIIT/Metabolic Resistance Training. I am up for it. I follow some of your principles in my exercises but have not been able to cut down on my diet. Now I will do both. Waiting for that sample MRT.
Would like to see more info on metabolic resistance training. Thanks.
Interval training YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That’s some language that I understand! But please do elaborate, on the actice recovery, like I said yesterday my jogging routine is jog, walk, run, I dont measure the time I do each but I think I have the basics!
More a question than a comment really.I have tried Tabata style drills before with good results. Do these compare to HIIT training as there is no active recovery, just rest between timed sets?
sweet, can;t wait for the sample workouts
Just back from doing the HIIT2 workout – 18 min of work (20 seconds at a 7:30 mile then 40 seconds walking at a 15:00 mile), burned 375 calories. The woman next to me on the treadmill was doing 10:00 miles … Still there when I left. Would have taken me more than twice as long to burn that amount of calories at that steady pace. Rock on with the intervals!
Can’t wait to read tomorrow’s post!
I have been wondering about this interval training lately. Glad to hear you blog about it. Will try it next time I’m at the gym.
I feel like I do both actually. I do some intervals after my weights, but during my weights I also breath like a beast. I believe that improves my conditioning soo much! I just played like 2 hours of soccer non-stop and I just got better and better over time. I can now manage that kind of fatigue much better. They are both a must in training
Awsome blog, i’ve been doing HIIT forever now but i’m very curious about metabolic resistance training, never heard about it before!
I’ve seen this in my own personal training. I performed slow-go cardio for years with minimal results. For the last year, interval training and metabolic resistance training have been a staple in my workouts and I’ve lost approximately 50 lbs (with the help of a good diet as well…) I would love to see some of your sample workouts to see if I’m doing things right…
I totallly agree that metcon and interval training is superior to slow go cardio. However, having said that, the Tremblay study has been discredited for its manipulation of the facts and results. Tom Venutto has a good article on it on his blog. I wouldn’t use that study as a cite to support your arguments (which I do agree with, just not that study).
A great finding. keep it coming.
Hi Joel,
Your all articles are informative and filled with result. I am eagerly waiting to read your MR Training.
Great going!
I usually do a 25 min workout on the exercise bike with a 5 min warm up followed by 5 sets of high intensity riding for 1.5 minutes each with 2 minutes of easy riding in between followed by the last 5 min of cool down period. It seemed to make a difference in fat loss. Not sure if it should be longer periods of high vs. low intensity though.
Awesome, thanks so much Joel, really enjoying the posts! its keeping me motivated! :)
Bring it on!!! Would LOVE to see a sample workout please so I can get some ideas on how to implement it. Can’t wait to start!!
Talk about burn, the first XFLD workout I did had a four day aftereffect. I really worked at it as hard as I could and “sweat like a pig.” One exciting workout. Thanks for the info!
Can you also please give some examples of metabolic resistance training?
Thanks!
Always enjoy hearing that what we know is proven by science :)
show da workout!
Cool! Now, is there a way to combine the afterburn of metabolic resistance training with the increased fat loss potential of interval training? Sounds like the holy grail.
Love the idea of intervals, but my heart rate shoots to 156 just jogging so I feel like I never get to the intense part……max hr 174
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Hey, it’s Joel! So you want to know a little more about me, huh? Well, I’d be happy to oblige :-)
I guess it all started back in 2001 (my freshman year of college) when I was just a “skinny fat” 19-year old kid. At the time, I was spending close to 2 hours a day in the gym (now my workouts last about 30 minutes), and despite my efforts, you’d probably never guess I worked out a day in my life by looking at me...