Fat Burning workouts

abbefaria4

Hello All,

I've read in several places that high intensity interval training is the best exercise for caloric burn and fat loss. Do you agree? If not, what workouts do you think are the best for burning fat?

Thanks,
Andrew

NorthCascades

I just burned 1,000 calories (measured with a power meter) riding my bike in the sun for two hours.

SonyaCele

for me, long steady state cardio burns the most. probably because i can do it longer than i can do HIIT.

usmcmp

The best exercise for fat loss is exercising self control with food. Beyond that exercise has great health benefits, but often not enough of a calorie burn to negate excess calories eaten. Focus on food intake for fat burning and exercise for the other benefits.

sijomial

Wrong on both counts, that's marketing pandering to busy people, those that dislike exercise and want to get it over with quickly or just plain wishful thinking.

High intensity exercise can only be done for a short duration. Adding in recovery intervals drops the average burn per minute down massively.
Care to compare calorie burns for cycling for hours compared to sprinting for seconds?


Highest rate of calorie burn (not fat burn, fuel used is irrelevant) would be to go at the highest pace/intensity you can manage for the entire duration of the time available to you. Think a one hour time trial for example.
I have a selection of maximal effort tests from 30secs to 3 mins to 20 mins to one hour. The rate of burn declines as the duration goes up but the calories go up as the duration goes up.


Fat loss comes from a sustained calorie deficit over an extended period of time and your food intake and activity levels are big drivers for that, not so much for most people from your exercise or type of exercise although exercise can help tip the balance (if you aren't following the MyFitnessPal method of accounting for exercise burns).

TavistockToad

abbefaria4 wrote: »

Hello All,

I've read in several places that high intensity interval training is the best exercise for caloric burn and fat loss. Do you agree? If not, what workouts do you think are the best for burning fat?

Thanks,
Andrew

calorie deficit for fat loss, exercise for health

AnnPT77

sijomial wrote: »

Wrong on both counts, that's marketing pandering to busy people, those that dislike exercise and want to get it over with quickly or just plain wishful thinking.

High intensity exercise can only be done for a short duration. Adding in recovery intervals drops the average burn per minute down massively.
Care to compare calorie burns for cycling for hours compared to sprinting for seconds?


Highest rate of calorie burn (not fat burn, fuel used is irrelevant) would be to go at the highest pace/intensity you can manage for the entire duration of the time available to you. Think a one hour time trial for example.
I have a selection of maximal effort tests from 30secs to 3 mins to 20 mins to one hour. The rate of burn declines as the duration goes up but the calories go up as the duration goes up.


Fat loss comes from a sustained calorie deficit over an extended period of time and your food intake and activity levels are big drivers for that, not so much for most people from your exercise or type of exercise although exercise can help tip the balance (if you aren't following the MyFitnessPal method of accounting for exercise burns).

When he's right, he's right.

I'd add that IMO, HIIT is a particularly bad choice for exercise beginners, especially those whose main goal is weight loss, doubly especially those who are planning to do it daily (or near to it).

Why? Maximum effort, even in short bursts, is exhausting - by definition.

When we leave a workout exhausted, that tends to carry over into the rest of our day. It's sort of a "fatigue penalty". We're more likely to drag through the rest of our regular waking hours.

The net result is that we are a little less energetic for those 14-15 other waking hours in the day, unintentionally and unconsciously change what we do in subtle ways to conserve energy, and therefore burn somewhat fewer daily life calories! (We may even sleep a little more.)

In effect, we cancel out part of our workout calories through fatigue.

Even elite athletes - some of whom do some HIIT for specific athletic-training goals - don't do it daily, and don't typically continue it long term. That should tell you something.