‘South Beach Diet’ follow-up expands options
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In another study, conducted jointly by Baylor University and the University of Alabama, researchers compared continuous low-intensity exercise performed for 60 minutes to a high-intensity interval training program alternating between 2-minute periods of work and recovery, also for 60 minutes. The participants were eight women between ages 23 and 35. Researchers found that the interval training protocol burned 160 more calories per day than the low-intensity training method, or about 800 calories more per week when the exercises were performed five times a week.
The point is that if you want to burn more calories, you need to work out with greater intensity. But don’t worry, we’re not telling you this so you feel compelled to get on the treadmill for an hour a day. In fact, we’ve already seen some excellent results with women we’ve put on our 20-minute-a-day Interval Walking program. Not only have they lost excess pounds, but they’ve lost them in trouble spots like the waist and hips.
Studies also reveal that interval training is more effective for normalizing blood sugar and correcting bad blood fats (such as LDL, or low-density lipoprotein, cholesterol, and high triglycerides) than conventional exercise, making it ideal for cardiovascular health. This means that interval training is a wonderful choice for people at risk of developing prediabetes and diabetes. And it’s particularly effective for burning away belly fat, the dangerous visceral fat that is the bane of many men and women in midlife.
There’s yet another reason interval training is preferable to conventional training: It prepares you better for living in the real world. Consider this. Do you take your training heart rate when you leave the house in the morning and stay at that level for the whole day? Of course not. You’re constantly speeding up and slowing down as you go about your activities, whether you’re getting up from a desk, running for a bus, or chasing after a toddler. Our lives are actually built around interval activities. Therefore, an ideal fitness program should prepare you for the kinds of physical demands you encounter every day. And interval training does just that.
How Interval Training Works
How does interval training work? It switches your metabolism into high gear and increases your demand for energy (calories) so that you burn more calories and fat. Think of your body as a car. When you drive in stop-and-go traffic, you burn a lot more gas than when cruising along at a constant speed. With gas prices so high these days (let alone our desire to use less fossil fuel), that’s the last thing you want to do when you’re driving. But it’s exactly what you do want to do to burn maximum calories and fat during exercise. And that’s how interval training works. Every time you work hard and then slow down, you waste energy and use up calories. And what it’s costing you are those extra, unwanted pounds.
As good as it is, intense interval training isn’t for everyone. It must be customized for people with certain orthopedic problems or serious heart conditions. Again, my advice is to check with your physician before starting this or any other exercise program.
Excerpted from "The South Beach Diet Supercharged: Faster Weight Loss and Better Health for Life" by Arthur Agatston, M.D. Copyright 2008 Arthur Agatston. Reprinted with permission from Rodale Books. All rights reserved. For more information, visit www.southbeachdiet.com.
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