FAT BURNING MYTH: You must burn fat during exercise to lose fat.
Two very similar studies have found evidence that this is simply not the case. Both had two groups exercising at either a very high intensity or a very low intensity. The exercise was standardized so that both groups burned the same number of calories.
One group exercised approx. 50 minutes at a very low intensity (~50% VO2 max) while the other exercised approx. 25 minutes at a very high intensity (~90% VO2 max). If this myth was true then only the low intensity group should have lost fat. But, at the end of 18 week, bodyfat loss was identical. If the high intensity group burned only carbs, how did they lose fat? They don't really know. However, what seems to be important is the caloric deficit rather than the manner of burning the calories. Even if you do a lot of low intensity exercise, if you still eat too much, you will not lose fat. High intensity, which burns more calories will produce a greater caloric deficit making overall fat loss greater than low intensity.
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Now remember, high intensity exercise is very uncomfortable. If you are just starting, you will not continue exercising if you put yourself through lots of unenjoyable and painful exercises. However, assuming you have been working out a sufficient amount of time to be physically able to it, you will definitely see greater fat loss by exercising at a higher intensity because you will be burning more calories for a given time period. All workouts should not be high intensity or you risk injury and overtraining. Stick with 2-3 workouts per week and make the rest of your workouts recovery or low aerobic workouts. High intensity workouts can be great for those people who have a given amount of time that they can exercise. In order to burn more calories they should increase the intensity since they cannot increase the time.
Have any myths or questions? Put them in the comments so I can tell you FACT OR FICTION....
