The Time Efficient Exercise Intensity for Fat Loss
Eric Dempsey
California University of Pennsylvania
November 24th, 2014
Obesity has been a growing, worldwide, health concern for the past 20 years. This problem has reached pandemic levels with over 300 million people worldwide, categorized as obese. Obesity has been related to numerous serious other health issues such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, hypertension, and high cholesterol. One of the mostly widely prescribed non-surgical solutions for obesity has been the combination of diet and exercise. The main type of exercise recommended, has been low to moderate intensity, continuous, steady state, aerobic training. Research has shown that this type of aerobic training or moderate intensity exercise (MIE) burns calories during the training session, and is most effective when done for longer periods of time (Campbell, Wallman, & Green, 2010).
Time is a factor in exercising and lengthy exercise sessions can cause problems with program adherence. Program adherence is one of the major issues with obese people failing to make progress. An alternative form of training done at high intensity for short periods of time can eliminate the time barrier for exercise. This would increase the likelihood of program adherence. Participating in high intensity exercise (HIE) sessions can maximize oxygen consumption and fat oxidation with short duration workouts. The majority of the fat oxidation and calories burned from HIE training occurs after the workout. This process is referred to as excessive post exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC) (Hazell, Hamilton, Olver, & Lemonb, 2014). This may prove to be useful for people who wish to lose body fat and increase performance but are constrained on time for exercise (Townsend et al., 2013).
Problem Statement The purpose of this research is to compare the effectiveness of high intensity exercise vs. moderate intensity exercise, on fat oxidation in non-athletic test participants, in order to determine which intensity of exercise, would deliver the greatest results in the least amount of time.
Literature Review
Training Intensities Used for Fat Loss There have been numerous studies conducted on different exercise intensities to try to determine which exercise intensity level is appropriate for different goals. Many of the studies centered on comparing MIE and HIE forms of exercise training to see which intensity level produced the most body composition change, metabolic change, increase in performance and VO2 max. The results of the studies have been conflicting or polarized into either a MIE or HIE supporting camp. Both methods of training produce results. MIE takes longer time commitments than HIE. One form of training is not suitable for everyone. Having multiple training protocols allows people to use the correct training format to fit their needs (Wallman, Plant, Rakimov, & Maiorana, 2009). HIE may not be suitable for certain types of people although it has been shown to have favorable and safe results with a wide spectrum of people including cardiac rehab patients. MIE can be better suited for those people who have injuries or cannot participate in high intensity effort. When it comes down to the time available for exercise, HIE has been shown to be able to produce viable results in short periods of time, comparable to MIE done for much longer periods (Boutcher, 2011).
MIE
Moderate intensity exercise requires lengthy periods of time to produce results, usually in excess of thirty minutes per session. Better results come from even longer durations of training such as 40 to 90 minutes at 50 to 75 percent of heart rate peak. Research has shown that MIE performed for 41 minutes, three times a week, for eight weeks, resulted in significant fat loss with test subjects (Eimarieskandari et al., 2012). Dutheil et al. (2013) reported that MIE performed for 90 minutes, four times per week resulted in body fat loss and body composition changes. Another study showed that MIE performed for two hours and 30 minutes, per week for 12 weeks, resulted in significant body fat loss and body composition changes (Hottenrott, Ludyga, & Schulze, 2012). Although results were achieved with MIE in each of these studies, the time involved was significant and lasted longer than 30 minutes.
HIE
High intensity exercise is becoming increasingly popular because it provides people with a short, robust method to increase performance and change body composition. HIE normally consists of short, intermittent exercise bouts performed at an intensity level of eighty five percent or above of the lactate threshold velocity (Hottenrott et al., 2012). One study showed that conducting HIE training for 27 minutes, three times a week for six weeks, resulted in significant body fat loss (Hazell, Hamilton, Olver, & Lemonb, 2014). Research by Campbell et al., (2010) reported subjects losing more body fat in the HIE group than the MIE group during a six week period, using two 15 minute sessions per day, five days a week. In another study, HIE training for 20 minutes, three times a week for 12 weeks, produced significant body fat loss (Matinhomaee, Banaei, Azarbayjani, & Zolaktaf, 2014). Additional research used HIE training for 20 minutes, three times a week for 12 weeks, which resulted in significant body fat loss in test subjects when compared to a control group (Heydari, Freund, & Boutcher, 2012).
Heydari et al., (2012) also reported that HIE training burns more visceral fat than MIE training and that HIE training is optimal due to its low time commitment. HIE training for 30 minutes produced metabolic profile results similar to that of much longer MIE training sessions (Wallner, Simi, Tschakert, & Hofmann, 2014). These research studies illustrate that HIE training can produce significant fat loss results with exercise sessions that last 30 minutes or less.
Excessive post exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC) For maximal fat loss to occur, the energy expended during the exercise session as well as the energy expended after the exercise session must be substantial. The oxygen consumed after the exercise session that assists in fat loss is referred to as EPOC (Townsend et al., 2013). Intensity is the only variable reported to impact the level of EPOC after exercise. Higher EPOC levels are associated with increased fat oxidation. (Warren, Howden, Williams, Fell, & Johnson, 2009). MIE training burns the majority of its calories and body fat during the exercise session while HIE training burns most of its calories and body fat, post exercise through enhanced EPOC (Warren et al., 2009).
Conclusion
The various studies show that both MIE and HIE training are effective at improving body composition, performance and VO2 max. HIE training can be a suitable alternative form of training for people who do not have the time for longer MIE training (Boutcher, 2011; Campbell et al., 2010; Eimarieskandari et al., 2012; Hottenrott et al., 2012; Townsend et al., 2013; Wallman et al., 2009). HIE training is a time efficient form of training for body fat loss and increased performance (Hazell et al., 2014). The research supports the use of HIE training as a suitable alternative to the normally prescribed MIE training. People who do not have the time or would be unlikely to adhere to longer duration workouts can benefit from HIE training to accomplish their goals.
Clinical Implications
This research provides trainers and coaches with the enhanced ability to tailor training programs based upon the client’s needs. By providing a combination of MIE and HIE training programs tailored to the individual, trainers will have the ability to increase performance and body composition results within the training time available to each client (Townsend et al., 2013). HIE training has been reported to lower cholesterol levels and blood pressure in test subjects (Wallman et al., 2009). With the ability of HIE training to burn more visceral fat than MIE training, HIE training may be optimal for decreasing the health risk factors of people with metabolic syndrome and obesity (Heydari et al., 2012).
Future Research
Further research is recommended on HIE training in obese populations with longer intervention periods (Wallman et al., 2009). More studies using larger groups, with emphasis on a better understanding of the effects of EPOC, are warranted (Townsend et al., 2013). HIE training for use in doctor supervised, weight management programs needs to be investigated further (Heydari et al., 2012). More research is also recommended on the metabolic and physiological responses from HIE training when compared to MIE training (Wallner et al., 2014). Additional research is also recommended for identifying the optimal work and rest ratios for obese subjects performing HIE training (Wallman et al., 2009).
References
Boutcher, S. (2011). High-intensity intermittent exercise and fat loss. Journal of Obesity, 1-10. doi: 10.1155/2011/868305
Campbell, L., Wallman, K., & Green, D. (2010). The effects of intermittent exercise on physiological outcomes in an obese population: continuous versus interval walking. Journal of Sports Science and Medicine, 9, 24-30. Retrieved from http://www.jssm.org/
Dutheil, F., Lac, G., Lesourd, B., Chapier, R., Walther, G., Vinet, A., … Courteix, D. (2013). Different modalities of exercise to reduce visceral fat mass and cardiovascular risk in metabolic syndrome: the Resolve* randomized trial. International Journal of Cardiology, 168, 3634-3642. doi: 10.1016/j.ijcard.2013.05.012
Eimarieskandari, R., Zilaeibouri, S., Zilaeibouri, M., & Ahangarpour, A. (2012). Comparing two modes of exercise training with different intensity on body composition in obese young girls. Ovidius University Annals, Series Physical Education & Sport/Science, Movement & Health 2012 Supplement, 12, 473-478. Retrieved from http://www.univ-ovidius.ro/
Hazell, T., Hamilton, C., Olver, T., & Lemonb, P. (2014). Running sprint interval training induces fat loss in women. Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism, 39, 944-950. doi: 10.1139/apnm-2013-0503
Hazell, T., Olver, T., Hamilton, C., & Lemon, P. (2012). Two minutes of sprint-interval exercise elicits 24-hr oxygen consumption similar to that of 30 min of continuous endurance exercise. International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, 22, 276 -283. Retrieved from http://www.humankinetics.com/products/journals/journal.cfm?id=IJSNEM
Heydari, M., Freund, J., & Boutcher, S. (2012). The effect of high-intensity intermittent exercise on body composition of overweight young males. Journal of Obesity, 12, 1-8. doi:10.1155/2012/480467
Hottenrott, K., Ludyga, S., & Schulze, S. (2012). Effects of high intensity training and continuous endurance training on aerobic capacity and body composition in recreationally active runners. Journal of Sports Science and Medicine, 11, 483-488. Retrieved from http://www.jssm.org/
Matinhomaee, H., Banaei, J., Azarbayjani, M., & Zolaktaf, V. (2014). Effects of 12-week high-intensity interval training on plasma visfatin concentration and insulin resistance in overweight men. Journal of Exercise Science & Fitness, 12, 20-25. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jesf.2014.01.001
Rahimi, R., (2006). Effect of moderate and high intensity weight training on the body composition of overweight men. Physical Education and Sport, 4, 93 – 101. Retrieved from http://facta.junis.ni.ac.rs
Townsend, J., Stout, J., Morton, A., Jajtner, A., Gonzalez, A., Wells, A., … Cosio-Lima, L. (2013). Excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC) following multiple effort sprint and moderate aerobic exercise. Kinesiology, 45, 16-21. Retrieved from http://www.kif.unizg.hr/en
Wallman, K., Plant, L., Rakimov, B., & Maiorana, A. (2009). The effects of two modes of exercise on aerobic fitness and fat mass in an overweight population. Research in Sports Medicine, 17, 156–170. doi: 10.1080/15438620903120215
Wallner, D., Simi, H., Tschakert, G., & Hofmann, P. (2014). Acute physiological response to aerobic short-interval training in trained runners. International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance, 9, 661-666. doi: 10.1123/IJSPP.2013-0385
Warren, A., Howden, E., Williams, A., Fell, J., & Johnson, N. (2009). Postexercise fat oxidation: effect of exercise duration, intensity, and modality. International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, 19, 607-623. Retrieved from http://www.humankinetics.com/products/journals/journal.cfm?id=IJSNEM
Eric Dempsey
Master Sergeant, U.S. Army Retired
NASM Certified Personal Trainer and Weight Loss Specialist
Graduate Student in Exercise Science at Cal U.
Dempseys Resolution Fitness
www.dempseysresolution.com
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