Losing fat, please listen.

One thing i hate hearing from fat people is that they are going to burn fat faster by doing interval training. Are you kidding me? Fat people, it's time to wake up to the realities of life. Interval training is meant to increase Vo2 Max.

It's kind of a joke, because the people i talk to regarding this issue don't get it. I'll explain here why you shouldn't be doing interval training.

First off, you are doing it wrong. Interval training doesn't consist of 4 x 30 second "sprints". Let me tell you what interval training is:

3-5 minute repeated runs--please note the length of these runs--with equal or less time for recovery. These are speed workouts. They aren't meant to cut weight per se, but intended to increase your vo2 max... or how much oxygen your lunges/heart/muscles can efficiently process.

I recommend taking the more traditional approach: go for a longer run. Aerobic vs. anaerobic workouts, that's what it comes down to. For fat people who think that anaerobic workouts cut fat faster than aerobic workouts you have one thing confused: length and time.

With anaerobic workouts you will be moving faster, yes. But you will not be moving as long. You will need recovery, yes. But will be doing a few repeats.

Here's the thing. As a fat person, you aren't going to be doing many repeats--let's just get that out there--not effectively at least. What makes anaerobic workouts good is being able to do them... in order to do them you need to recover--this means your body has to be used to the strains of training. If you aren't in good aerobic condition you can't recover, so that means your next repeat is going to not be very effective.

In terms of calories you will burn more going on a longer, steadier run. Why? Because you'll be running longer. Just because you get your heart rate up to 80-90% maxHR for 30 seconds doesn't negate the fact that in a long run you keep your heart rate at a steady 75-80% for 30 mins-1 hr (however long you want to do your run).

Let's do the math:

say your intention is to do 10 X 30 second repeats trying to go all out with 1 minute recovery

--you run about 200 m in the sprint and about 200 m in the recovery--making for a 2.5 mile run total.

or

you do a 6 mile run at 9 minute/mile pace.

No matter how fast you run the 9 minute/mile pace is still going to be doing as much work and therefore burn as many calories as the faster (but less milage) guy. The same strain is going to be put on the body in terms of work done. By running slower it doesn't mean less work is being done, because just as many steps need to be taken and you have to account for all the extra energy they are wasting by giving off heat during the extra time spent running.

All in all, no matter what your pace--a mile tends to be about 100-120 calories. Say we give the faster guy (for the benefit of the doubt 120 calories per mile, while we give the slow dude 100).

This means that in total for the 2.5 miles the "fast guy" burns 300 calories. For the slower guy with 100 calories / mile he burns 600. As a matter of fact the slow guy would only have to run 3 miles (.5 miles more if we give them the benefit of the doubt) to equal the same caloric burnage.

You say that well the faster guy burnt his faster therefore if you did a longer workout you'd burn more. This is where i've got you, because you can't do much more of speed workouts. They are meant to increase speed, and your bodies only got so much ATP and will power to get you through so many intervals.

You'd only be able to hold maybe 20 good all outs, probably not even. Even then that would only be 5 miles and the long haul guy would still beat you.

Second to last thing: fat people don't want to do longer runs because they think they'll look like a typical long distance runner (super lean). They don't want that look. But what... you think your going to go straight from being fat to being a stick. No! It's a process and you can lay off whenever you feel the results are to your complete liking.

The last thing i hear is that speed stuff builds muscle which burns fat. Yes, yes it does. But you know what also builds muscle? Endurance runs!! It builds the most important muscle in the body too! The heart. An accomplished runners heart could be significantly larger than the non-athletes. This makes it easier for your heart to supply your body with blood. That's pretty damn important. Endurance muscle is very lean and efficient, building it goes hand in hand with fat loss and leaner more toned look.

In conclusion my dear friends, if you are looking to burn fat don't turn to speed stuff. You are going to end up giving yourself a false sense of accomplishment. Look to endurance for all it's great benefits. I guarantee that if you do a longer run every day rather than a speed workout you'll be losing weight in no time.

We're inherently long distance runners. Why do you think we have these long ass legs. Get out and go use them. The more you run the more you'll like it. Get past the first few weeks and i guarantee those endorphins will start kicking in and you'll be hooked.