Intervals And Resistance Training Cardio

Metabolic Resistance Training And Interval Training The Fastest Fat Loss

9 times faster fat loss? A bold claim for sure. And we hear these claims all the time the new wonder drug, fad diet whatever.

 But today we are going based on scientific studies done on the effects of resistance training cardio and interval training.

In my last post I talked to you about  slow cardio to lose body fat quickly and began to briefly talk about  the benefits of something much more effective – short duration, high intensity interval training exercise.

Simply put, if you are looking for the quickest way to lose body fat, high intensity exercise is a MUST.

Short duration, high intensity exercise comes in two major forms: metabolic resistance training (MRT) or resistance training cardio (as I like to call it) and interval training. Today, I want to take a DEEP look into the benefits of each.

1 -  Metabolic Resistance Training:

As mentioned in my previous post, metabolic resistance training is simply “cardio with weights” or as I call it resistance training cardio and when speaking of the most effective form of exercise for the fastest possible fat loss, this is it.

Before we really get crankin here is a quick example of a resitance training cardio example exercise.

 A couple of studies to support this that Alwyn Cosgrove dug up:

Schuenke MD, Mikat RP, McBride JM.
Effect of an acute period of resistance exercise on excess post-exercise oxygen consumption: implications for body mass management.
Eur J Appl Physiol. 2002 Mar;86(5):411-7. Epub 2002 Jan 29.

In this study a 30-minute circuit style metabolic resistance training session was put to the test. The result was a 38 hour increase in metabolism – massive AFTERBURN.

Let’s put this in perspective: Say that you worked out at 8AM on Friday. By way of  resistance training cardio, you’d still be burning calories from that workout while out at the movies on Saturday night.

You want to burn calories by watching Wolverine? Now you can.

Here’s another:

Kramer, Volek et al.
Influence of exercise training on physiological and performance changes with weight loss in men.
Med. Sci. Sports Exerc., Vol. 31, No. 9, pp. 1320-1329, 1999.

This study showed that those who added metabolic resistance training to a reduced calorie diet burned up to 44% more fat than those who dieted alone.

Don’t get me wrong, diet is the NUMBER ONE component of the fat loss puzzle, but once you’ve got that down, resistance training cardio or MRT can really take your results to a whole new level.

And here’s one more:

Bryner RW, Ullrich IH, Sauers J, Donley D, Hornsby G, Kolar M, Yeater R.
Effects of resistance vs. aerobic training combined with an 800 calorie liquid diet on lean body mass and resting metabolic rate.
J Am Coll Nutr. 1999 Apr;18(2):115-21.

This study compared “slow-go” aerobic exercise to resistance training cardio and found that the resistance group lost significantly more fat without losing ANY lean muscle even at an extremely low calorie intake (not so for the aerobic group).

In fact, believe it or not, while the aerobic group experienced a decrease in metabolism (and lost muscle), the resistance training group actually increased overall metabolic rate.

THAT’S the power of metabolic resistance training.

Convinced that metabolic resistance training cardio  WORKS? Good. 

 Interval Training:

Interval training is simply a form of high intensity cardio in which you alternate back and forth between periods of high effort and periods of active recovery.

Here is a short video demo of a beginners Interval training workout.

For example, you may run very hard for a period of one minute and then follow it up with walking for one minute, repeating 8-10 times for a less-than-20-minute workout.

Does it work?

Tremblay A, Simoneau JA, Bouchard C.
Impact of exercise intensity on body fatness and skeletal muscle metabolism.
Metabolism. 1994 Jul;43(7):814-8

You want to know what happened when this research group compared 20 weeks of endurance training vs. 15 weeks of interval training?

While the aerobic/endurance group actually managed to burn more total calories during exercise, the interval training group lost NINE TIMES more body fat. NINE TIMES.

Nine times more fat loss in half the time? The clear choice for fat loss is interval training.

And it all comes down to elevated metabolism after your workout is completed – the afterburn.

Are you experiencing the afterburn

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