Rob Houghton
New member
A LONG time ago, aerobic exercise or slow boring cardio was considered to be better for burning unwanted fat. This theory makes sense in a way as fat is the preferred fuel for such low intensity activities such as slow jogs, aerobic classes and sleeping etc. The body burns fat when free fatty acids are used for fuel in conjunction with oxygen (i.e fat burning zone)
Hang on one minute. Answer this; how many hours are there in a day? 24, right, so why when training to lose fat, do most people only focus on burning calories for 1 hour or so, doesnt it make sense to maximise the fat burning effect throughout the whole day? Of course it does. But most people I speak to think it doesn’t make sense to only train for half an hour and instead, will just plod along watching the calories burned on a x-trainer/treadmill/bike for an hour or so.
Maybe going to the gym, class, jogging is a social thing for most people, but for me personally, I want to get done what I have to do in the quickest time possible and get home and enjoy being with my young family and run my business. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not dismissing aerobic exercise altogether, but if we’re armed with the knowledge of both protocols (Aerobic vs Anaerobic), it only makes sense to train with the most effective.
Research has shown that its more important to focus on the events that place after a workout, as intense exercise sessions lead to significantly higher post exercise energy expenditure, resting metabolic rate will be increased, which will ultimately, turn your body into a fat burning machine 24/7!!!
Science has confirmed this many times (bear with me one minute) so instead of focusing solely on the energy or calories burned during the workout, it's far more important for fat loss to consider overall calories expended throughout the day.
Research:
The most famous study was conducted by Tremblay and colleagues in 1994, where they compared the effects of endurance training and high intensity intermittent training. Two separate groups were evaluated. The endurance group followed a program for 20 weeks and the interval group followed a program for 15 weeks. The results found that the interval group lost a heck of a lot more body fat despite the fact that the endurance group burnt more calories in the actual workout and had a 5 week advantage!
Equally as famous: The Tabata protocol
This method of conditioning was made famous by Dr. Izumi Tabata and his team at the National Institute of Fitness and Sports in Tokyo. The team was looking at different exercise protocols and their effect on the energy production systems of athletes with the aim of finding ways to increase both anaerobic and aerobic conditioning. They tested a number of very intense protocols but found that the one called 1E1 tested both systems, this is the 20 seconds on and 10 seconds off method we see today.
Why use Tabata?
The Tabata method is incredibly good for conditioning and this is great for most athletes but what if you are not interested in the physiological conditioning but rather about conditioning and how it relates to body fat levels and muscularity?
Reduced body fat levels: Although Tabata has been used for energy system work it was quickly found that it is a hugely effective way to strip fat from the body. The training is itself brief, but the knock on effects are increased calorie utilization through the day and more importantly, an increased rate of fat burning in the hours after training. While low intensity long duration work has you burning fat on the cross-trainer/treadmill/bike for say 1 hour, Tabata causes you to increase the rate for fat burning for many hours after.
Resistance training vs aerobic exercise.
This study compared resistance training (weights) vs aerobic exercise (slow boring cardio). Both workouts were equal in duration and intensity with the results confirming that oxygen consumption (EPOC) was much higher following the resistance workout. And furthermore, elevated oxygen consumption continued for a longer time after the workout had ended. (Burleson, 1998) Slow boring cardio reduces power and strength (look at marathon running compared to sprinters) and don’t forget that more muscle burns more calories as energy is used to build and maintain muscle.
Theories:
Intense exercise increases the enzyme 3-hydroxyacyl CoA dehydrogenase who’s job it is to break down fats into energy.
Intense exercise can promote acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC) inactivation. Malonyl-CoA is synthesized by ACC and is an inhibitor of fatty acid oxidation. When you exercise, there’s a decline in malonyl-CoA and is accompanied by inactivation if ACC. As exercise intensity rises, theres an increased inactivation of ACC (Rasmussen, 1997)
Other research has found a link between fat expenditure following intense exercise and growth hormone release. Growth hormone is know to influence lipolysis, the breakdown of fat stored in fat cells. One study found that ‘the increase in fat expenditure during recovery was directly related to GH release’ (Pritzlaff et al, 2000)
I was wondering how many of you are still using aerobic exercise as your primary means of physical exercise for fat loss, and how many people have switched over to mainly Anaerobic, and how would you compare the two now looking back???
-Rob
Hang on one minute. Answer this; how many hours are there in a day? 24, right, so why when training to lose fat, do most people only focus on burning calories for 1 hour or so, doesnt it make sense to maximise the fat burning effect throughout the whole day? Of course it does. But most people I speak to think it doesn’t make sense to only train for half an hour and instead, will just plod along watching the calories burned on a x-trainer/treadmill/bike for an hour or so.
Maybe going to the gym, class, jogging is a social thing for most people, but for me personally, I want to get done what I have to do in the quickest time possible and get home and enjoy being with my young family and run my business. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not dismissing aerobic exercise altogether, but if we’re armed with the knowledge of both protocols (Aerobic vs Anaerobic), it only makes sense to train with the most effective.
Research has shown that its more important to focus on the events that place after a workout, as intense exercise sessions lead to significantly higher post exercise energy expenditure, resting metabolic rate will be increased, which will ultimately, turn your body into a fat burning machine 24/7!!!
Science has confirmed this many times (bear with me one minute) so instead of focusing solely on the energy or calories burned during the workout, it's far more important for fat loss to consider overall calories expended throughout the day.
Research:
The most famous study was conducted by Tremblay and colleagues in 1994, where they compared the effects of endurance training and high intensity intermittent training. Two separate groups were evaluated. The endurance group followed a program for 20 weeks and the interval group followed a program for 15 weeks. The results found that the interval group lost a heck of a lot more body fat despite the fact that the endurance group burnt more calories in the actual workout and had a 5 week advantage!
Equally as famous: The Tabata protocol
This method of conditioning was made famous by Dr. Izumi Tabata and his team at the National Institute of Fitness and Sports in Tokyo. The team was looking at different exercise protocols and their effect on the energy production systems of athletes with the aim of finding ways to increase both anaerobic and aerobic conditioning. They tested a number of very intense protocols but found that the one called 1E1 tested both systems, this is the 20 seconds on and 10 seconds off method we see today.
Why use Tabata?
The Tabata method is incredibly good for conditioning and this is great for most athletes but what if you are not interested in the physiological conditioning but rather about conditioning and how it relates to body fat levels and muscularity?
Reduced body fat levels: Although Tabata has been used for energy system work it was quickly found that it is a hugely effective way to strip fat from the body. The training is itself brief, but the knock on effects are increased calorie utilization through the day and more importantly, an increased rate of fat burning in the hours after training. While low intensity long duration work has you burning fat on the cross-trainer/treadmill/bike for say 1 hour, Tabata causes you to increase the rate for fat burning for many hours after.
Resistance training vs aerobic exercise.
This study compared resistance training (weights) vs aerobic exercise (slow boring cardio). Both workouts were equal in duration and intensity with the results confirming that oxygen consumption (EPOC) was much higher following the resistance workout. And furthermore, elevated oxygen consumption continued for a longer time after the workout had ended. (Burleson, 1998) Slow boring cardio reduces power and strength (look at marathon running compared to sprinters) and don’t forget that more muscle burns more calories as energy is used to build and maintain muscle.
Theories:
Intense exercise increases the enzyme 3-hydroxyacyl CoA dehydrogenase who’s job it is to break down fats into energy.
Intense exercise can promote acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC) inactivation. Malonyl-CoA is synthesized by ACC and is an inhibitor of fatty acid oxidation. When you exercise, there’s a decline in malonyl-CoA and is accompanied by inactivation if ACC. As exercise intensity rises, theres an increased inactivation of ACC (Rasmussen, 1997)
Other research has found a link between fat expenditure following intense exercise and growth hormone release. Growth hormone is know to influence lipolysis, the breakdown of fat stored in fat cells. One study found that ‘the increase in fat expenditure during recovery was directly related to GH release’ (Pritzlaff et al, 2000)
I was wondering how many of you are still using aerobic exercise as your primary means of physical exercise for fat loss, and how many people have switched over to mainly Anaerobic, and how would you compare the two now looking back???
-Rob
