Interval training burns more calories than steady paced moderate intensity exercises
A review of studies has suggested that a mixture of various types of intense exercises interrupted with brief recovery periods can help individuals lose more weight compared to steady paced activity on an exercise bike or treadmill. Data was examined from 41 studies in which weight loss results had been compared after at least 4 weeks of either interval training or steady paced moderate intensity exercises, such as walking, cycling or jogging.1✅ JOURNAL REFERENCE
DOI: 10.1136/bjsports-2018-099928
Both types of workouts resulted in weight loss as well as body fat loss for all individuals. But interval training resulted in greater total weight loss: an average of 3.5 pounds (1.58 kilograms) in comparison to 2.5 pounds (1.13 kilograms) with steady paced moderate intensity exercise.
In comparison to 38 minutes of steady paced moderate intensity exercise, the duration of interval training sessions was an average of 28 minutes and 18 minutes for sprint interval sessions. Four minutes of intense exercise was alternated with 3 minutes of recovery for the most commonly used high intensity interval workout. The total of participants involved in all the studies was 1,115 and the studies lasted from 4 to 16 weeks.
As much as an hour a day of aerobic exercise of moderate intensity is recommended by the majority of exercise guidelines for preventing weight gain or for achieving modest weight loss. The advice for obese individuals is to exercise more than an hour a day in order to lose those extra pounds of body weight.
It’s suspected that interval training can result in more weight loss because the body is triggered to burn more fat in the 24 hours after exercising as the muscles use all its energy stores that come from carbohydrates when exercising intensely. However, not much fat is burnt during the brief bursts of interval training exercise, so longer workouts can help achieve similar results for losing fat. A combination of intense interval training and steady paced moderate intensity exercise would be the ideal method for weight loss.
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