New research shows you will be luckier to lose weight with these intense workouts.
Runners are always looking for ways to speed up and chase those personal records, and incorporating interval training into regular training routines definitely helps. But new research shows that interval training can do more than just boost your running performance – it can also help you lose weight if that’s your goal.
In the review and meta-analysis, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, the researchers analyzed data from 36 previous studies involving 1,012 people who compared the effects of interval training with continuous moderate-intensity exercise for at least four weeks.
The study authors divide interval training into two categories: HIIT and speed interval training. They defined HIIT as an exercise performed at 80 percent or more of the maximum heart rate, and sprint interval training as an exercise that is equal to or greater than your maximum VO2 (in other words, total effort ).
Although the protocols for each varied between studies, the most widely used HIIT routine included 4 minutes of high-intensity training followed by 3 minutes of recovery. Regarding sprints, most used 30 seconds of “total” effort alternated with 4 minutes of recovery or 8 seconds of work with 12 seconds of recovery.
Moderate-intensity exercise is defined as a continuous effort in which you reach 55 to 70 percent of your maximum heart rate or 40 to 60 percent of your maximum VO2. Again, steady-state routines varied, but ranged from 10 to 60 minutes, with those from 40 to 45 minutes, and from 29 to 35 minutes, as the most common.
The results? While people managed to lose weight and body fat from both types of interval training (HIIT and sprint) and continuous moderate-intensity exercise, interval training was generally more effective.
Those who did either type of interval training lost 29 percent more weight than those who did moderate-intensity continuous exercise.
“INTERVAL TRAINING APPEARS TO CHANGE METABOLISM, AND HIGHER-INTENSITY EXERCISE APPEARS TO PROMOTE MANY PHYSIOLOGICAL CHANGES THAT COULD FAVOR LONG-TERM WEIGHT LOSS,” SAYS STUDY CO-AUTHOR PAULO GENTIL, A PROFESSOR IN THE DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICAL EDUCATION AND DANCE AT THE FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF GOIÁS IN BRAZIL. “IN OTHER WORDS, IT MAKES YOUR BODY MORE EFFICIENT AT BURNING FAT.”
Moderate intensity, on the other hand, doesn’t cause the same changes in your metabolism as higher intensity training does, according to Gentil.
“While [moderate intensity exercise] burns fat and calories during performance, it has been shown that after cessation there are metabolic changes that could hinder fat loss and promote fat accumulation,” he said. “While that doesn’t mean low-to-moderate intensity exercise causes people to gain fat, it suggests that metabolic adaptation to this form of exercise could, at least partially, compensate for the fat [burned] during exercise.”
But just because research found that intervals are better for weight loss doesn’t mean there are more intervals even better. Because these types of workouts are more demanding on your body, you shouldn’t do them as often as you do with easy runs (in the case of runners).
“SO IF YOU DID A REALLY DIFFICULT SPEED WORKOUT THAT DEPLETED MOST OF YOUR GLYCOGEN STORES, YOU WILL NEED TWO TO THREE DAYS OF RECOVERY TIME BEFORE DOING ANOTHER,” ACCORDING TO GENTIL.
And if you have a weight loss goal, you should also pay attention to what you are putting on your plate in addition to the type of exercise you are doing. Gentil also notes that healthy eating is an important part of weight loss and that combining a good diet with interval training is the best way to ensure success in losing weight.