The majority of my personal training clients in Marylebone want to achieve a leaner, more athletic physique while juggling busy work schedules with family life. So my training methods have to be time efficient in order to maximise the results they get. So what are the most effective forms of training produce effective results?
Research shows that a combination of strength training and high-intensity intervals induces the best results for a better body composition and improving health. These forms of training have been extensively researched, and all studies have indicated that an increase in lean muscle tissue intensifies your resting metabolic rate.
Furthermore, high-intensity interval training is the most efficient tool for fat loss when compared to steady-state aerobic exercise. By performing shorter, faster bursts of exercise with a work to rest ratio that encourages intensity, several different energy pathways are put to use, which has been found to be more efficient for fat loss than aerobic exercise, which just uses the aerobic pathway.
This article will highlight the reasons why you should be adopting anaerobic training to improve body composition and live a healthier life. Through resistance training and high-intensity interval training such as sprints, you will achieve the lasting results you want with less time training than you would with steady-state aerobic training, such as going for a long slow run.
1. Why sprints are king for fat loss?
Anaerobic style training such as sprints forces the body to burn fat tissue in order to endure the intensity. Whether you use sprint training on a rower or by foot, they are great for creating intensity in a short period of time, driving the body’s metabolic rate through the roof and creating an efficient fat burning environment. Anaerobic exercises such as sprints taps into different energy pathways compared to aerobic exercises; in other words, they tend to burn fat first for fuel rather than carbohydrates. Furthermore, anaerobic training creates an oxygen deficit, thus increasing the amount of calories burnt by the body for as long as 24 hours after training.
A 2001 study in the American College of Sports Medicine’s journal, Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, compared two groups of women. One group exercised using standard zone aerobic training, while the other group used anaerobic interval exercise. The interval group exercised for two minutes at a highly intense 97% max heart rate. They then rested by doing three minutes of low-intensity activity. The aerobic group performed moderately intense activity at close to 70% of max heart rate. The researchers made sure that each group burned exactly 300 calories. Despite exercising longer and burning the same amount of calories, the aerobic group had less loss in body fat at the end of the study compared to the interval group. In addition, fitness in the interval group was also substantially better.
The findings of this study underpin the key point mentioned earlier that anaerobic training is beneficial for fat loss due to its ability to force the body to continue to burn a higher percentage of calories post workout, thanks to the high intensity which causes excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC). EPOC refers to the body’s oxygen deficit due to the effects of the exercise, making it work hard to catch up and recover. Although the benefit of EPOC and the impact of greater fat oxidation on fat loss is evident, there is also another factor that plays a vital role – hormone response. Sprint training and other forms of anaerobic training develop your endocrine system; in other words, they enhance the body’s sensitivity to insulin. They also boost growth hormone release, which vitally helps build muscle tissue and burn fat. Growth hormone is secreted by the body due to the intensity of anaerobic training such as sprints, unlike slow-paced aerobic exercise.
An earlier study by the same journal demonstrated that an aerobic-trained group actually produced insignificant fat loss results. The study said: “Disappointingly, aerobic exercise protocols have led to negligible fat loss”. Another study in 2007 showed that in as little as 2 weeks, active women who performed interval training experienced a 36 percent increase in the use of fat for fuel during exercise. I have already highlighted how anaerobic training made it possible to cut our cardiovascular workout in half due to its intensity and format. It’s indeed true – we all lead busy lives and need to free up as much time as possible. Sprint training provides significantly better fat loss results and you can achieve them in half the time. Assuming your intensity during training is adequate, you can cut the time you spend training in two, thus giving you more free time.
Perhaps, the most telling study on the effects of anaerobic vs. aerobic cardiovascular training was published in 1994 in the journal Metabolism. The study tracked two groups of people undergoing different modes of exercise. One group underwent zone aerobic training for a period of 20 weeks. Group 2 did 15 weeks of a high-intensity interval programme. The results showed that the aerobic group burned 48% more calories than the interval group over the course of the study. However, despite the huge caloric disadvantage, the interval group enjoyed a 9-fold greater loss in subcutaneous fat (fat under the skin). Most remarkably, resting levels of 3-hydroxyacyl coenzyme A dehydrogenase (HADH), an enzymatic marker of fat burning, were significantly elevated in the interval group.
The findings of this research indicate that even though the anaerobic group trained for 5 weeks less, each workout was shorter than the aerobic group and still produced greater fat burning capabilities at rest and during exercise. This highlights the productivity of sprint training and the effect it has on hormone response and elevating fat loss.
It is worth noting that a quality sprint interval training session can be done in half the time compared to a traditional aerobic session because this enables the muscle building hormone testosterone to stay elevated, leading to better muscle development and preventing muscle wastage. If testosterone levels are kept higher then the build up of cortisol, a stress hormone that stores fat cells around the belly, will decrease. Cortisol is elevated when you are put under stress – whether it is psychological or physical stress. It increases when testosterone decreases, typically after 45 minutes of intense exercise. This is the reason why your training sessions should not be longer than an hour, whether it’s a resistance session or cardiovascular training session.
2. Why strength training should form the cornerstone of your programming?
Strength training for both men and women to achieve better body composition is crucial for achieving lasting results. High-volume protocols with short rest periods shock the neuromuscular system, forcing muscle to grow and increasing your resting metabolic rate while increasing the secretion of the growth hormone and testosterone levels, in turn helping to improve your body composition. This is why it should be made part of your workout routine. Research with over 1100 previously sedentary adults revealed body composition improvements from eight weeks of standard strength training (Westcott and Guy, 1996). In the programme, participants increased their lean weight by 2.4 pounds and decreased their fat weight by 4.6 pounds.
As we get older, our testosterone levels start decreasing naturally and we begin to lose more muscle tissue. So, it’s even more important that as we age, weight training stays as the corner stone of our programming. A study by Hopkins at the College of Health and Human Performance and the College of Medicine, University of Florida, found that the metabolic effects of reduced muscle mass, engendered by normal aging or decreased physical activity, led to a high prevalence of obesity, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, dyslipidemia and hypertension. The study also noted that adults who do not perform regular weight training lose approximately 0.46 kg of muscle per annum from the fifth decade on. Furthermore, adults who do not perform weight training experience a 50% reduction in type 2 muscle fibres, the fibres responsible for high levels of strength.
In a nutshell, I believe it’s now quite clear that you should prioritise your resistance training for optimal body composition and fat loss. The best approach to weight training for fat loss is to use high-volume training. So, you need to do 4-6 exercises per session with at least 4 sets per exercise for muscle development and increased metabolic drive. Exercise selection is important as well – it makes sense to use the biggest bang for your buck exercises. These are compound movements which target several large muscle groups in one exercise such as squats, lunges, deadlifts, chin ups, inverted rows, chest presses and shoulder presses. These exercises should be included in every workout you do as they recruit most of the muscle fibres and release the most testosterone. You should vary your reps scheme; in other words, if you have been working in higher rep ranges between 8 and 12, you should raise the intensity by increasing the load and working with a rep scheme that enables you to be lifting 80% or more of your 1RM. The use of supersets is great – by using antagonistic supersets, you can increase the intensity and volume while cutting down your training time. Similarly, trisets, giant sets and drop sets are also great for upping the intensity.
Tom Winterbottom, personal trainer St John’s Wood personal trainer Marylebone.