Fast and Furious VS Slow and Steady |
| This isn’t the latest data, but it seems to be taking a long time to reach the forefront of the weight loss industry. Back in 1994, a man named Dr. Tremblay noticed that people who frequently played high intensity sports like racquetball were often thinner than those who played low intensity sports like golf. So he designed a study to compare two different types of exercise in their promotion of weight loss, low intensity exercise (slow and steady) and high intensity exercise (fast and furious). Here is a summary of his findings:In his study, comparing the exercise methods by how much weight loss they were associated with, high intensity exercise was associated with a 9 times greater reduction in fat than low intensity exercise. That’s right. But let me put it another way. Burning 1 calorie during high intensity exercise will cause you to lose 9 times more fat than low intensity exercise. AND you burn more calories faster with high intensity exercise than you do with low intensity exercise. Have his findings been confirmed by other researchers? Somewhat, with studies finding improved weight loss, just not to the same extent that Dr. Tremblay found. And here’s what might explain why… Many studies consider high intensity exercise to be a moderately fast run, whereas Dr. Tremblay considers high intensity exercise as sprinting. If you throw on some running shoes and compare the two, there’s a big difference. Is high intensity exercise right for everyone? More importantly, is high intensity exercise right for you? That’s a question only you and your doctor can answer. High intensity exercise definitely brings with it greater risks of heart attack and stroke while doing it. Discuss it with your doctor, and know that high intensity exercise is something to work up to, not start out at. What Dr. Tremblay has shown us is that between the tortoise and hare, the hare will lose those love handles a lot faster. |