Wednesday, February 20, 2019

Interval Training and British Journal of Sports Medicine Article


An article on February 20, 2019 in AM NY points to an article in the British Journal of Sports Medicine (BJSM) where interval training was found to be more effective for fat loss than longer-duration training.

In the study, 1,115 participants were followed from four to 16 weeks. One group of participants 38 minutes of moderate intensity exercise, 28 minutes of interval training or 18 minutes of sprint interval training. The latter was the most effective in fat reduction. Of course, each body is different and care should be taken in joint health for long term sprint or running training.
Those doing interval training lost about 3.5 pounds of fat while those doing moderate exercise lost about 2.5 pounds of fat.

Interval training was more effective and also saves time for people to go about their day while doing an effective workout. Dr. Keith Diaz of Columbia University explained that interval training can result in more fat loss because muscles deplete more or all their carbohydrate sources and so the body resorts to fat burning after exercise. Dr. Dr. Keith Diaz of Georgetown University School and theVeterans Affairs Medical Center in Washington, D.C. pointed out that care should be taken by older adults or people with health problems before or while interval training to assure no heart, orthopedic or other injuries.

Interval training is useful to get off a plateau, but should be interspersed with longer workouts such as aerobic workouts that burn fat during the workout.

Interval training can last 20 minutes for a beginner, and 30 to 60 minutes for a moderate to advanced exercise. An example of interval training is doing jumping jacks for 10 to 15 seconds, and then walking for two minutes. Then you can do plyometric squats for 10 seconds and slow leg raises for one to two minutes. you can job for 10 to 15 seconds and then do walking sideways for two minutes.

I do not think that food intake guidelines for before or after aerobic or interval training are definitive.

Unfortunately, they did not cite the study. Here is another study you can check out in BJSM:  https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/early/2019/01/23/bjsports-2018-099928

Don't forget to check out my book Pocketguide to Fitness and other books on www.authorhouse.com and www.Amazon.com.

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