High intensity cardio/HIITs OR steady state (explanation)

gazerofthestars

Thought I'd share this:

"The best way to lose weight and to maintain your weight is to inject these quick little intervals in between your resistance programs. You want to bring your heart rate way up and then bring it down and then bring it way up again." But it wasn't until Refinery29 cited the intense bursts as an evolutionary trait that I understood why the hell it worked. Check out the reasoning below.

This response can be tracked back to early man. Steady cardio was usually a sign of migrating to a new home or following food, so the brain would signal the body to store fat because it was going to be low on food. However, when the body was faced with short, intense bursts of movement, it was usually because it was avoiding a predator, so the brain would signal to the body that it needed to divert calories and sugar into the muscles to help it move quickly in order to survive. By putting that stress on your body with interval training, it tricks your body into using calories for energy, rather than storing it away for later use. It also ensures your body will burn fat even when you are done exercising

Source: http://ology.com/post/74808/fat-burning-quick-sprints-work-because-your-body-thinks-you-re-running-from-a-wolf

gazerofthestars

Bump

DocGu

There is no question that HIIT is a great way to lose weight and get yourself in shape. But so is steady state cardio.

Which is better? The one you will do. Some people like HIIT some people like LSD (long slow distance). Both will get you there, that article seems to be implying that endurance running will make you fat. No.

I think that explanation is a tad too speculative for me. I would rather my explanations be rooted in modern physiology not in evolutionary biology. After all, when using evolution as a model - the further we go back in time, the more removed we are from the situation and the more we have evolved away from it.