There seems to be a die-hard myth in the gyms that lead people to believe a low intensity aerobic type activity will burn more fat.
Nope.
If you want to get lean, low intensity is not the most effective method to get your body cut. Let me explain.
It's true that low intensity activities burns more fat on a PERCENTAGE basis, but who cares about percentages; we want actual numbers!
Here's an illustration. A 170 pound person will burn very roughly about 165 calories in 30 minutes of walking on a treadmill at 3 mph; about 97 fat calories will be burned.
Compare that with 30 minutes of jumping rope by that same person--a total of 450 calories, with 180 fat calories, would be burned with rope jumping.
Really, this should make intuitive sense to you; you're pushing your body harder so of course, you will burn more OVERALL calories and fat.
Let's take this a step further and look at HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) which is a type of cardiovascular training where very high intense bursts are followed by lower moderate stages in the workout. True HIIT workouts are SHORT lasting only about 20 minutes.
HIIT is going to burn off even more fat from your body much quicker than "steady-state" workouts, like jogging for 40 minutes, casual biking for an hour, etc that you may be doing now for your cardio sessions. Without going into detailed science and personal trainer jargon, HIIT creates a big demand for oxygen even AFTER you are done with the activity, and it takes a lot of energy from your body to repair itself. So you need to use more calores with HIIT sessions during and AFTER. Also, there is research indicating that HIIT increases your resting metabolism. Right on!
Here is just one example of a HIIT session; choose some type of cardiovascular machine or train on a track:
Minute 0 - 10: Warm up--walk, easy bike, etc
Minute 10 - 11: GO GO GO! ALL OUT push (bike elliptical, running outside, stair master)...you cannot go any faster if you tried and your legs start to burn around 35 seconds.
Minute 11- 13: Go at an "uncomfortable" level but allow yourself to catch your breath
Minute 13 - 14: GO! Burn Baby Burn
Minute 14 - 16: Recovery
Minute 16 - 17: GO! Your legs are crazy-fast!
Minute 17 - 19: Recovery
Minute 19 - 20: GO! People are looking at you like you are nuts!
Minute 20 - 22: Recovery
Minute 22 - 30: Cool down; sip water.
In addition to your weight lifting sessions, start with HIIT workouts 2 times a week for a month and 1 steady state workout and monitor your energy levels. Then the following month, increase to 3 times if you feel ready.
In short, put on your favorite Rage Against the Machine tune and PUMP UP THE JAM!
