In 1994 Angelo Tremblay and some colleagues at the Physical Activities Science Laboratory at Laval University in Canada, tested the long held belief amongst most exercise and medical professionals that long slow low intensity cardio was superior for fat loss. In fact, they compared the impact of moderate/low intensity to high intensity interval training in hopes of finding what was superior for fat loss.

In the experiment, one group did twenty weeks of endurance training, while the other group did fifteen weeks of high intensity interval training. The cost of total energy expenditure was much more in the endurance training group than the interval group! Additionally, Tremblay and his associates found that the endurance group burned nearly double the amount of calories during training than the interval group. Low and behold, skin fold measurements showed the interval training group lost more body fat than the endurance training group. This may not seem to make sense at first but the team found, “when the difference in the total energy cost of the program was taken into account..., the subcutaneous fat loss was nine fold greater in the HIIT (interval training) program than in the ET (endurance training) program.”

In layman’s terms, interval training is superior for fat loss and takes less time. Here are some practical examples.

John Combs Performs Barbell Complex

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John Combs Talks About Interval Conditioning