I know that esteemed readers of my blog are clearly above the general consumer knowledge curve and don't want to be fooled by fitness and nutrition misinformation anymore.
So this week I’ll discuss about the myth that permeates through the media, publications, and even among health care professionals and trainers themselves. In fact, a fitness club team was presenting at a fitness conference last week in London.
Here is the myth: exercising at a lower intensity burns more fat than exercising at a higher intensity.
Reason behind the Myth: When you exercise at a higher intensity, you instead burn more sugar.
Alright, here is the simplest way possible to explain this.
A. When you exercise, your body burns carbohydrates and fat.
B. More fuel comes from fat if the intensity of your exercise is low. The fact behind is that to "burn" fat oxygen is required and when you exercise too intensely, it becomes anaerobic (which means, without oxygen—you start huffing and puffing for air).
C. As your intensity increases, your body starts to using carbohydrates for fuel.
D. And, when you increase your intensity, you burn more calories per total time spent exercising (walking to running to sprinting).
E. To lose body fat you need to burn more calories.
F. Therefore, exercising at a higher intensity is the winner if fat loss is your goal. It does not matter if those calories come from fat or carbohydrates; it matters that you are using calories by moving more!
Here is where the confusion lies. I said in #2 that more fuel comes from fat when you exercise at a lower intensity. It does not mean you are burning more body fat -- you are not literally breaking down body fat and using it like gas in a race car. Fat as fuel and body fat are different. In fact, research continues to mound that higher intensity exercise is more effective than lower intensity exercise for fat loss.
Most people like to hear that low intensity exercise is better -- because it is easier! But it is not as effective.
In fact, recommending someone that lower intensity movement is better for fat loss is like telling someone sitting is more effective than exercising if they want to lose fat. I cant believe how so called weight loss gurus have the thought that low intensity exercise burns more fat, then I would like to ask them why not to take it to extremes and burn the most fat possible just by sitting or sleeping. What a joke!
Of course fat loss requires smart nutrition to truly be effective--which is why I recommend The Idiot Proof Diet Handbook . Exercise in and of itself has little effect on fat loss -- when coupled with nutrition, the pieces to the puzzle start to come together.
Regardless of what you chose to do, I wish you all the best of luck in your endeavors.
Thanks for reading.
