This is great stuff. I have a lot of great experience with HIIT. There is no question it is great for fat loss in my mind as I have seen the positive results every time it is properly followed. It is great to see more support information on this. Can’t wait for more posts from you as none of us can ever get enough information!
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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You have convinced me but now I don’t know what these shorter workout sessions would look like.
I truly appreciate the interval training info and the effort made to support your message with research that I can review. Will be including nearly all this info in my workouts. Looking forward to the accelerated fat loss – hard to do as I get older. Thanks.
Yes, I have experienced “cardio with weight” and proven. Actually I have tried for years and just got the result last 8 months since I changed from treadmill cardio into cardio weight. I do 15 repetitions at first 4 months with less weight and rest interval less than 30 seconds to keep my heart beat at 110-120 for 45 – 75 minutes 5 times a week. Currently I do 10 reps with opt weight for 45 minutes still 5 times a week. The result lost 11 kgs, body fat from 22% to 16% and belly from 100 to 88 cm. And still dropping my body fat but increase muscle. I am male 55.
Hi Joel,
Can you pls help me with few more examples of interval training and I am less familiar with “metabolic resistance training.” Can you give an example?
check the math:
You want to know what happened when this research group compared 20 weeks of endurance training vs. 15 weeks of interval training?
Nine times more fat loss in half the time? The clear choice for fat loss is interval training.
Can’t wait.
Great post! I hope in following posts you give some examples of metabolic resistance training. I already use HIIT on cardio machines to great effect, but would like to see how it’s applied to using weights. When I do resistance training, I use big enough weights that I can only do 8-12 reps before failure. To mimic HIIT with weights, it seems like you would have to increase the reps and so use smaller weights than when doing pure resistance training. More info along those lines would really help.
Nice… Tried HIIT for myself, but didn’t work for me, so would be very interested in the metabolic resistance training. Looking forward to a well-defined six-pack, uh, i mean training routine. =)
I used to be a gym rat–I had time to spend. But now, 15 years later, as much as I like workouts I don’t have the time to dawdle at them. And I don’t seem to have the imagination necessary to keep from being bored by the exercises I choose. This was an interesting post–am looking forward to the followups. Point me in the right direction.
It is interesting to hear about this. I want to start to enjoy the results of my workouts. I am looking forward to the workouts!
I want to hear more about this in details!!!
Hi Joel,
I have had good results with interval training on the stationary bike. Flat out on resistance 10 till heart rate comes to 160 then down to resistance 6 – 8 till heart rate drops to 120ish. 30 mins of this 3 – 4 times per week with weights after for 25 mins. Also do Zumba once per week which is also based on interval training. Loving my results!
Doing the HIIT cardio doesnt work as well as keeping a constant slower pace for a longer period of time. This is because your body will use glycogen as a primary source of fuel when working out at 80% or more of your cardiovascular capacity. When training between 60 to 80% your body will use fat as fuel. To burn fat you need to put the time in, even if that means hours of cardio a week until you reach your goals. Doing 20 minutes here and there wont help you if you’ve got 20+ pounds of fat to lose.
This is very interesting information. I’m all in for less time and more efficency in workouts.
I’ve been “cheating my way thin” for 5 months now. I’ve lost 41 pounds and fit into couple of 30 year old suits in my closet. Just started bodyweight resistance exercises, but would love to learn more about HIIT. Thanks for the information and support!
Very interesting research – would love some examples!
Quite liked your info.
Too bad I don’t really have the time to go through the papers right know but it would be also nice to talk about the test subjects in each case (trained, untrained, overweight, etc). I find both circuit training and HIIT very interesting. Thanks for sharing!
Joel,
I couldn;t agree with you more.
In June this year I changed from the long slow cardio workouts to interval training- using a bike and eliptical machine coupled with cardio with weights. All the comments I have received are about how much weight I have lost, the change in my body shape and how fantastic I look.
To be honest I have only lost approx 7kg ( the diet needs some working on!!) but have lost a huge amount of body fat whilst also having dropped 2 dress sizes.
And the beauty of this kind of workout is that I do not always need to go the gym to workout. I work in Sudan and often am out in the field where there are no gyms and it isn’t safe to go to some cardio interval training outside but by doing bodyweight circuits etc I can keep working out and maintain my progress
I have now managed to convince a couple of friends to drop their slow cardio workouts and follow what I am doing. Already, after only a few weeks, the difference in their bodies is starting to be seen and they are delighted that their gym workout time has been cut in half but with better results.
i have a lot a weight to lose, i heard a lot about interval training. i hope this is my start to a slimmer me!
Interval training is absolutly unreal, I have followed a program now for around 5 months and have dropped 17Kg’s. The best part of it is it only takes 35mins, 4 times a week, and the weight stays off. It really does work.
Go Afterburn…..!!!!
I just switched to inteval training on my treadmill and can’t wait to see the results. Would be great to hear more about the type of exercises I should be doing.
Yes please! I have restarted getting my diet on track (Pastries in Paris dismantled threw it off for a while). Now, I need to get the workouts on board.
Yea any tips or suggestions on different workouts are always interesting to read!
Interval training is definitely the key. 20 minutes is the most you need to get a good kick in the rear end. Any circuit helps burning fat so much faster than steady state…
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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...