Great inspirational article Joel – been using interval and MRT for a few months now and has really shifted the stubborn fat. Would appreciate ideas on exercises to do though as always looking for new ones to freshen up our workouts.
Keep up the good work and thanks for the inspiration!
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
What did u mean by cardio with weights? Does that include supersets, or just circuit training?
Thank you so much for citing actual sources! Time after time, I’ve receive demails from online fitness gurus that impart legitimately valuable information (if they didn’t I wouldn’t subscribe to them in the first place). However, often these gurus make claims about cardio or HIIT training, or anaerobic vs. aerobic in terms of fat loss, and none of them ever cite actual sources or studies to back up their claims. Many of the claims conflict with one another, too. A perfect example would be Jeff Anderson’s continuous forwarding of the benefits of cardio, claiming it is more valuable than HIIT, whilst people like Arnel Ricafranca say the exact opposite. So who am I supposed to believe, when I don’t know where either of them get their data.
In actually showing the studies upon which you are basing your fitness principles, you have gained a level of credibility with me that most others in this business have not achieved. Thank you for your work.
Wow!!! 38 hrs of afterburn and 9 times more fat loss should be enough reason to shelve the traditional slow-go cardio, once and for all!!! I’ve been aboard the metabolic resistance and Interval training bandwagon for a year now, let me tell you that it’s one of the best things that happened top me yet!!!
Great work Joel!!
Great idea, how do I integrate this in my swimming?
I go 4xweek and do 2 km = 40 laps.
So do I do 1 Lap fast alternated with 1 slow?!
i’ve been doing metabolic resistance training and interval training 3 times a week and resistance training 2-3 times a week but since i gave birth to my son, 4 months ago, i’ve been unable to loose weight, not even one single pound after 3 months! i’ve used your program with great success before but for some reason it’s not working this time. could you give me some advise, please! i have a healthy diet, a good exercise regimen so i don’t know what i’m doing wrong this time. it’s really frustating. i hope you can help me.
Would love to learn more about interval training. Please post details.
Great article, thank you.
Question! Does the afterburn effect compound? Meaning, if I do intervals/MRT more than once every 38 hours, (or every day, for that matter) will it increase the effect? Just curious =)
Hey Joel,
Thanks for that article. Although I had heard that High Intensity Training burned more fat, somehow I just want too convinced since I tried it for awhile and I didn’t see much change. But I am going to give it another shot, this time I will stick with it for 12 weeks. I cannot wait for your sample interval training workout. Thanks.
Does metabolic resistance training work as an advantage for pregnancy? Can you offer some examples if favorable?
Hi joel
Thanks for all the articles, I’m learning so much, and feeling great about myself. Thanks again. J
I have been doing this on and off for the last few years. I had problems running long distances so tried this instead. WORKS REALLY WELL the fat justs flls off.
Please give us a sample interval workout! :)
Great post, Joel.
I can testify personally to the benefits of both metabolic resistance training and interval training.
I’m 60 years old now and still working my ass off!
@ Jamie:
MRT with Kettlebells has been extremely effective in my own endeavors. For HIIT style workouts, bearing in mind that running is out of the question due to injury for me, I’ve been doing 30 seconds RPE 9-10 on a stationary bike followed up with however long at a slow pace it takes to recover my breathing and heart rate to near full recovery. So for any fellow non runners this is a feasible first step into the HIIT world.
Hi Joel. Thank you for that email. It can be SOOOO confusing. One study says “go slow ” and others “nice and quick” :o) But i like to experiment :o) High intensity intervals ARE THE BEST.
What ranked best? 1) short spurts of interval training (i.e., 1 to 2 minutes in length), followed by same-length for recovery; or 2) longer spurts of interval training (i.e., 5 to 10 minutes). followed by same-length for recovery?
never done this so far..would be good to try it
never done this so far..would be good to try it
love to hear more about afterburn
great article, good job!!!!
but let me ask you: what if we compare metabolic resistance training with interval training as for fat loss, which one leads to more fat loss in the same period of time?
hope to get a reply to my question! i know u have too many questions to answer but would love to be one of those that u picked up to answer
thank you in advance
keep up the good work
I have just started doing a ‘super-set’ weights workout – but would love to learn about how to work even harder. Also to understand exactly how to do HIIT training in combination with Metabolic Resistance Training would be AWESOME!!
Hey Joel, great post!!
I do HIIT regullary and I think it gives you great results. I also tried Metabollic resistance training, i used to do Body Pump, a program that i supose is the same that MRT!
I’ve seen great results using both!
Joel:
It would be interesting to have examples and your definition of:
“metabolic resistance training”
and “interval training”
thanks
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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...