This one is mainly for all of the ladies out there- and I’m not about to
sing a Michael Bolton or Marvin Gaye song here… unless of course, the
price is right.
Women have the relentless tendency to perform endless hours of cardio and if they do use weights they tend use loads that are so light that they might as well not even bother—so small that they can barely be seen by the naked eye.
Women have the relentless tendency to perform endless hours of cardio and if they do use weights they tend use loads that are so light that they might as well not even bother—so small that they can barely be seen by the naked eye.
Heck,
most guys out there have a hard enough time gaining muscle. Now factor
in that women have 15-20 times less testosterone than men do and the
answer is clear. In other words, women never have to worry about gaining
too much muscle-- it would require freakish genetics and loads of drugs
to even come close. Using heavier loads will just result in greater
calorie burning, a faster metabolic rate, and a tighter, more toned and
athletic physique.
One of the biggest myths in fitness is the concept of the fat-burning zone. It all started in 1993 when researchers at the University of Texas determined that lower to moderate intensity activity burnt the greatest amount of fat for fuel. In addition, peak fat oxidation (burning) appeared to occur at 65% of aerobic capacity. This is basically the exercise equivalent of conversational cardio or a power walk or slow jog.
However, we’ve already established that aerobic training has zero effect on weight loss over dieting alone, so we know that a power walk or slow jog will just not cut it.
Furthermore, though lower intensity exercise burns proportionately more fat than high-intensity exercise, high-intensity exercise burns more total calories per minute and thus still results in a similar amount of total fat burnt during exercise as its lower to moderate intensity counterpart.
The fact of the matter is that high-intensity exercise is scientifically proven to burn nine times more body fat than ordinary exercise per unit of effort. Plus, it’s not about how much fat your burn during your workout that’s important. The harder you exercise the more sugar you burn for fuel and this allows you to burn more fat during rest periods and in the hours and days between your workouts for maximum total body fat burning.
For the best real world example of which style of training is best for lean muscle gain and fat loss, just look at the body of sprinter versus the body of an endurance athlete. Sprinters are not only more muscular but actually have a significantly lower body fat percentage than endurance athletes. Though I’ve seen lots of overweight distance runners and walkers in my day, I have never seen an overweight sprinter. That has to count for something and again the science supports this anecdotal evidence.
One of the biggest myths in fitness is the concept of the fat-burning zone. It all started in 1993 when researchers at the University of Texas determined that lower to moderate intensity activity burnt the greatest amount of fat for fuel. In addition, peak fat oxidation (burning) appeared to occur at 65% of aerobic capacity. This is basically the exercise equivalent of conversational cardio or a power walk or slow jog.
However, we’ve already established that aerobic training has zero effect on weight loss over dieting alone, so we know that a power walk or slow jog will just not cut it.
Furthermore, though lower intensity exercise burns proportionately more fat than high-intensity exercise, high-intensity exercise burns more total calories per minute and thus still results in a similar amount of total fat burnt during exercise as its lower to moderate intensity counterpart.
The fact of the matter is that high-intensity exercise is scientifically proven to burn nine times more body fat than ordinary exercise per unit of effort. Plus, it’s not about how much fat your burn during your workout that’s important. The harder you exercise the more sugar you burn for fuel and this allows you to burn more fat during rest periods and in the hours and days between your workouts for maximum total body fat burning.
For the best real world example of which style of training is best for lean muscle gain and fat loss, just look at the body of sprinter versus the body of an endurance athlete. Sprinters are not only more muscular but actually have a significantly lower body fat percentage than endurance athletes. Though I’ve seen lots of overweight distance runners and walkers in my day, I have never seen an overweight sprinter. That has to count for something and again the science supports this anecdotal evidence.
In
the Gibala Study, researchers collected a bunch of college students who
were in good health but not participating in any athletics. One group
rode a bike at a sustainable pace for 90-120 minutes. The other group
performed 20-30 seconds of cycling at maximum effort followed by four
minutes of full recovery and they repeated this sequence up to four to
six times for a total of 18-27 minutes. Each group exercised three times
per week for two total weeks. In the end, they discovered that both
groups achieved identical improvements in endurance even though the
high-intensity group had only exercised for six to nine minutes while it
took the low-intensity group five hours to achieve those same results! I
know, crazy, right?
What’s even crazier is the fact that the high-intensity group had greater weight loss than their low-intensity counterparts. According to the head researcher Martin Gibala the “rate of energy expenditure remains higher longer into recovery” from high-intensity interval training.
There’s just something special about high-intensity anaerobic (without oxygen) work periods of 30-60 seconds. First of all, they are glycolytic in nature meaning that they burn muscle glycogen, or the sugar stores in your muscles, at optimal rates. The more sugar you burn during your workouts the more body fat you will burn in the hours and days between your workouts.
Second of all, it is generally accepted among fitness experts that maximum hypertrophy, or muscle growth, occurs when performing exercises with heavy loading and a time-under-tension lasting 30-40 seconds. At a rep speed of two to three seconds per rep that comes down to the classic bodybuilding rep range of eight to 15 reps per set. More muscle gain means greater metabolism which means more rapid and lasting weight loss.
Lastly, high-intensity anaerobic work periods of 30-60 seconds also create the optimal hormonal environment for fat loss by releasing hormones knows as catecholamines (mainly adrenaline). This surge of adrenaline mobilizes body fat, particular in the stubborn areas like the abs and lower back for men and the hips and thighs for women.
Interestingly enough, resorting to shorter and even higher-intensity work periods of 20 seconds or less actually causes a greater catecholamine release that leads to even greater fat mobilization during the workout. On the other hand, not as much glycogen will be depleted with these shorter work periods thus resulting in less fat being burnt at all other times of day. However, employing shorter, more intense work periods with incomplete rest periods will deplete your phosphagen stores (ATP-CP) and force your body to start using more sugar for fuel (this is beyond the scope of this article).
In general, I believe it’s a fair trade off. Plus, I’m a firm believer that the best interval training protocol is the one you haven’t done in a while, if ever. In other words, I recommend incorporating a wide variety of work periods ranging between 30-60 seconds or less for maximum fat blasting and metabolic disturbance and to keep your body guessing.
The bottom line is that intensity is the only thing that truly makes your body change. If you take one thing away from this article, I hope it is this!
THE FIX: To burn fat and skyrocket metabolism 24-7-365, employ high-intensity work periods lasting 30-60 seconds or less to deplete muscle glycogen stores during your workouts in order to burn more fat fuel when resting and at all other times of the day.
What’s even crazier is the fact that the high-intensity group had greater weight loss than their low-intensity counterparts. According to the head researcher Martin Gibala the “rate of energy expenditure remains higher longer into recovery” from high-intensity interval training.
There’s just something special about high-intensity anaerobic (without oxygen) work periods of 30-60 seconds. First of all, they are glycolytic in nature meaning that they burn muscle glycogen, or the sugar stores in your muscles, at optimal rates. The more sugar you burn during your workouts the more body fat you will burn in the hours and days between your workouts.
Second of all, it is generally accepted among fitness experts that maximum hypertrophy, or muscle growth, occurs when performing exercises with heavy loading and a time-under-tension lasting 30-40 seconds. At a rep speed of two to three seconds per rep that comes down to the classic bodybuilding rep range of eight to 15 reps per set. More muscle gain means greater metabolism which means more rapid and lasting weight loss.
Lastly, high-intensity anaerobic work periods of 30-60 seconds also create the optimal hormonal environment for fat loss by releasing hormones knows as catecholamines (mainly adrenaline). This surge of adrenaline mobilizes body fat, particular in the stubborn areas like the abs and lower back for men and the hips and thighs for women.
Interestingly enough, resorting to shorter and even higher-intensity work periods of 20 seconds or less actually causes a greater catecholamine release that leads to even greater fat mobilization during the workout. On the other hand, not as much glycogen will be depleted with these shorter work periods thus resulting in less fat being burnt at all other times of day. However, employing shorter, more intense work periods with incomplete rest periods will deplete your phosphagen stores (ATP-CP) and force your body to start using more sugar for fuel (this is beyond the scope of this article).
In general, I believe it’s a fair trade off. Plus, I’m a firm believer that the best interval training protocol is the one you haven’t done in a while, if ever. In other words, I recommend incorporating a wide variety of work periods ranging between 30-60 seconds or less for maximum fat blasting and metabolic disturbance and to keep your body guessing.
The bottom line is that intensity is the only thing that truly makes your body change. If you take one thing away from this article, I hope it is this!
THE FIX: To burn fat and skyrocket metabolism 24-7-365, employ high-intensity work periods lasting 30-60 seconds or less to deplete muscle glycogen stores during your workouts in order to burn more fat fuel when resting and at all other times of the day.
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