High-intensity exercise burns fat, including belly fat, better than low or moderate intensity exercises.
A new study released today in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise concludes that although all types of exercise lead to better health, high-intensity exercise is likely necessary to achieve significant improvements in body composition.
The study followed three groups of women who suffered from abdominal obesity, unhealthy cholesterol levels, high blood pressure, elevated triglycerides and elevated fasting glucose. The first group did not change their activity levels. The second group performed low-intensity exercise (50-60% of maximum aerobic capacity) five times per week. And the third group performed low-intensity exercise two days a week and high-intensity exercise (75-80% of maximum aerobic capacity) three times per week.
The high-intensity group reduced total abdominal fat, subcutaneous abdominal fat and visceral abdominal fat during the 16-week study.
This is especially important because visceral abdominal fat has been known to have a connection to heart disease.
As we noted in earlier blogs, you need an average of 275 minutes of exercise per week to see real and long-lasting weight loss, and if you incorporate high-intensity workouts as part of those 275 minutes, you are well on your way to being fit and healthy!
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