Aerobic training doesn’t work as well as anaerobic training. First of all who really wants to spend an hour running, cycling, etc…? Your body will adapt to it. As you get fitter, it becomes harder to burn the same amount of calories as when you started exercising because your body becomes more efficient. So the only answer for training that way is to go longer or to do the same time quicker. The overall calories burned are less than higher intensity workouts.
Look at the fat on a marathon runners vs. a sprinter. Yes, you can burn calories while doing aerobic training however it may be detrimental to your muscle growth and be more catabolic, which will breakdown muscle. Less muscle equals less calorie expenditure which results in lower body fat. So the answer is anaerobic/ high intensity training which is with little or no oxygen available.
The benefits of this training method are not only that it burns more calories while you are doing it, but that it also continues to burn more calories when you have finished your session as it revs up your metabolism up to several hours afterward.
Suggested Workout
- Start off with an activity such as running, arc trainer, etc.
- Warm up for 5-10 minutes.
- Increase your intensity for 1 minute. (Note: This should be a full out effort or as close to as possible. On a scale of 1-10, 10 being most difficult, 9-10 is where you should be)
- Now slow down to a comfortable 5-6 intensity level for 2 minutes.
- Repeat the above 1 Minute High Intensity / 2 Minute Medium Intensity cycle approximately 4-8 times
- Finish your session with a 3-5 Minute Low Intensity cool down.
You can use the above techniques with all of our cardio machines at The Studio. It is crucial th you changing machines every 2 sessions to avoid your body adapting to the cardio session.