27 April 2015

Reasons to train high intensity vs steady state cardio

BY Reza Tahar

Reasons to train high intensity vs steady state cardio

If someone told you to train for fat loss, if you were a normal person the first thing that would come to mind would be to jog. Very few people would connect the dots between sprinting or any other form of high intensity cardio with fat loss. The mistake is easy to understand because very simply, how can something so short, as short as 20 mins burn as much fat as say 2 hours of running?

Truth be told both methods can be used to burn fat, however both do it in different ways. Which one is better for you depends on your goals and any limitations you might have. However in an ideal world, and especially if you are an athlete or lean body mass is a concern of yours, then high intensity might just be the better option.  Here are some reasons why high intensity training may be better for you.

Spiral clock face: https://bjerglund.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/time.jpg

1. Not time consuming

Ultimately, fat loss boils down to a caloric deficit, meaning the calories you consume is less than the calories you actually use in a day. The more intense you work out the more calories you use. This explains why you do not have to work for such a long time if you were doing high intensity cardio to burn the same amount of energy then if you were to use steady state cardio. This is an attractive reason for busy individuals who still want to get the work done.

Lean body: https://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/images/2012/labrada-tips-tools-overview_y.jpg

 

2. Preserve lean body mass

Research has shown that high intensity exercise such as sprinting can burn fat and preserve lean body mass better than steady state cardio. This is important if you are afraid of losing all the muscle gains you made and worked so hard for before you decided to lose some fat.

Soccer player running: https://tigbe.com/02_about_us/graphics/sprint_soccer_ball.jpg

3. Better functional carryover

If you are an athlete, it would make sense to do cardio that resembles your sport. Chances are the sport you play requires you to perform quick bursts of activity vs a slow steady paced out use of energy. Sprinting and other high intensity activities better simulate sport activity and energy expenditure making it a clear cut reason to do high intensity training vs steady state for cardio.

4. More fun

Hopefully I do not have to explain why running for a few hours can seem a little boring. Unless you are a unique individual who actually enjoys running for extended periods of time. Short duration and high paced activities are more fun and promote adherence to a training programme.

VO2 testing: https://richardlachina.us/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/richard_vo2max_testing.jpg

5. VO2 gains

Research shows that doing high intensity training specifically on a stationary bike can improve VO2 equal to or even greater than from steady state cardio alone. It’s the best of both worlds! Fat loss plus VO2? Seems pretty win win to me.