Cardio intervals for weight loss/fat burn

vashley84

Hi everyone,
I'm sure this has been asked before, but I don't have time to go searching for the thread so...

If I'm aiming for weight loss (over cardiovascular, etc.), what ratio of interval training should I be doing and for how long in order to see results the quickest?

Apart from 5mins to warmup/cool down, I've been doing 30 second sprints alternating with 1 minute at normal pace, for a total of about 25 minutes, so I do the set of intervals about 10x. Is this right? Is 25 minutes a good duration at this intensity? I'm pretty beat at the end of 25 mnutes... (ie. if I were to increase the time between my sprints, or sprinting for longer with longer time in between sprints, would it be more acceptable to spend say 45 minutes doing intervals?). Again, my goal is weight loss/fat burn.
Thanks!!!

SarahLovesCheesecake

If thats you in your av pic, you're looking good.

lausa22

Well the longer you do it, in your target heart rate, the more you burn.
To make fat burning efficient you need to do about 20 minutes in your target heart rate, so anything longer than 20 minutes at the same intensity burns a good amount of fat.

WifeMomDVM

I only do about 15 minutes of intervals, then I do steady state after that if I "feel like" exercising more. For me I give 60 seconds of my best effort, with a 2 min recovery, for 5 sets.

I read it in a book by Lou Schuler with workouts designed by Alwyn Cosgrove (book is called "The New Rules of Lifting for Women").

I'm not sure why you shouldn't do intervals longer than that, but I think it has something to do with raising your cortisol levels.

SoCalSwimmerDude

I mix it up.

- :30 on / :30 off
- :45 on / :45 off
- :60 on / 3 minutes off
....and repeat....

but I think you're on the right track. If you really want to burn fat, you should mix some resistance training into those types of sets. Like light weights or bands. You don't have to "lift weights"... just use them to increase the intensity of complex body movements.