Whiskers

Long question short - What is better for loosing weight / maintaining weight:



Option 1 - Jog 30 - 40 minutes at a consistent pace and heart weight.

Option 2 - Jog for 30 minutes - Sprint for at your high HR for 90 seconds, then walk for 90 seconds at your low HR, then rinse and repeat.



I've been doing option 1, but I’m starting to do option 2 now because my trainer tells me option 2 will allow your resting metabolism to burn more calories during the day.



Experts?

rise

I'm no expert, but I've never heard of HIIT increasing BMR for the rest of the day.
I've read that when you've got the time, do low-intensity cardio for fat burning, and HIIT when you have time constraints.

95gt

There was actually a note on this in Mens health the other month.

They were doubting the whole low intensity for fat burning and kept coming back to the fact that Calories in < calories out is what matters so burn as much and as fast as you can.

Line at the end really made me think

"which body type would you rather have, sprinters or marathon runners?"

I sprinted out of the Barnes and noble's right then and there

Gixxster

I would go with option 2. As you increase the number of sprints you do, you could decrease your jogging time.

Whiskers

I actually don't mind how long the jog goes for, I want better benefits for my jog.

ccannizz11

You will burn more calories by doing HIIT, if you plan on doing it for the same amount of time that you would spend doing low intensity. And HIIT does increase your metabolic rate for longer after your workout than low intensity, I don't know about all day though.

When it comes to using them as a tool to drop weight, it all depends on the amount of time spent doing each that matters in figuring which is better. For example, If you can truly do HIIT for 30 minutes and can only do low intensity for 30 minutes, then you're better off going with HIIT. But if you can do low intensity for 60 minutes instead, then you might be better off doing the low intensity.

Another note: longer low intensity runs will use up more of what your body uses to create/build muscle, hence the marathon runner's body. So what you lose in cardio time by doing HIIT, you make up for with more muscle mass, which helps burn fat 24/7.

rise

calories burned can come from various body stores, such as the food you just ate, glycogen, etc.

low intensity cardio utilizes a higher % of fat stores as energy than a highintensity workout. A high intensity workout will burn more calories, but less fat.

Here is an example from my own workout journal:

That day my HR zone was much higher than a typical cardio day (today: avrg HR 160, on 6/3/05 is was 141) for me, only 35% of today's calories burned were fat calories, so that comes out to 291.2.
On 6/3/05, during one of my weight training sessions, I burned 628 calories, and at 50% fat consumption (due to a lower heart rate), the fat calories burned were 314.
Both days I "worked" approximately the same time, so this can possibly show that working the same amount of time but at a lower (low intensity) heart rate can have a higher rate of fat consumption and lead to more fat calories metabolized.



Again, I'm just gonna stick with my previous answer:
"Do whatever fits into your schedule and needs"

Whiskers

I think I will do a combo of both for now. Thanks all.

MaximaPower

isn't option 2 a combination of both? option 2 in my opinion is better for training and burning fat....but go w/option 1 if u just want to maintain what u already got

NiteQwill

Option 2 if you plan on decreasing your time. I do that when training for races. Also, good mileage under your belt beforehand helps too.

youngTL

Option 1 will increase your endurance. Number 2 will increase your strength, but both can make you lose weight. My friend's mom is a marathon runner (actual marathons, like 3 or 4 hours), and she can eat like whole pizzas and not gain weight, but she's also an ectomorphic body type to begin with.

I'd be inclined to think that if you sprint, your legs become like a sprinter's (to a lesser degree since you don't do it all the time). The added muscle mass in your legs is more valuable for burning calories on a full time basis, and will increase your calories out ALL THE TIME.

As for health benefits, distance training is good for your heart. This one should make you live longer.

In other words, do both.