The Fastest Way to Burn Fat?

I would be interested to see if this has the same effect on people who are not overweight or already quite fit, otherwise it could be seen as just beginners interval training.

Hmmmmm. I usually jog a lot, but I hate exercising on stationary machines, except when I am lifting weights.

The reason? I like to jog with nature instead of being on that stupid old treadmill.

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By the way, My team lost the AFC. Bummer. And, by a hair, 38 to 34.

I can hardly wait to see if this research can be confirmed by further studies. And if it is a healthy/safe work-out. If so, cool! What a great breakthrough for people who don't enjoy exercising!

Why do they think this is a new thing being discovered. We all know about switching between intervals of difficulty with suggestions going from 2 min hard 5 soft to 20 sec hard to 1 min soft\easy. It is very effective. What is so interesting to me is that year after bodybuilders suggested such techniques, the more mainstream started suggesting we do this. Bodybuilders constantly seem to be in the forefront of new ways to burn fat and build muscle. No, I am not a bodybuilder, but reading all those mags on how to shape up really has shown that they aren't the crazy people that the mainstream tried to make them out to be all those years ago. I mean we even got older people lifting and being able to maintain their independence longer, walking on their own two feet. Very cool.

I'm with FDA skeptic. This "new" technique is just another form of HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) which bodybuilders have been doing for years. Yawn...

Sounds like a bastardized version of Tabatas where you sprint like mad for 20 seconds, rest 10 seconds, sprint again... and do that for 4-5 minutes.

It also sounds reminiscent of the fartlek training that runners do. And it sounds like its hard work too, 8 of those 20 minutes are spent sprinting.

Does sound like hard work.

Spot reduce?? but I don't have much fat on my @ss.. could they think of one that spot-reduces my stomach?

Like some other people, I've already heard this and I do it twice a week. But what I am wondering is if there's something special about this particular 8/12 second combination. Does switching faster produce more results? Don't you have to give adequate rest time for your heart rate to go down?

HIIT has certainly been around for years - however I have never heard of such short intervals.

Even the Tabata technique (which I sometimes kill myself with) uses longer intervals (as powerpuffin says).

I'm awaiting more information on this research. A three-time increase in fat burning is a huge difference.

Interval training is known to “spike” metabolism, kind of like white bread spikes blood sugar and insulin. And, as with any kind of exercise, it is expected that an untrained individual would benefit the most.

It seems safe to assume that 45 overweight women were untrained. In addition, very short intervals usually imply more intensity, hence the results. There is a certain threshold, though – i.e. exercise duration has to be long enough to be effective.

It could be that they found a sweet spot for that particular group of women.

Interval training in general is already thought to burn three (a couple of sources have claimed as much as nine for HIIT) times as much fat as steady state cardio. That's why people are a bit skeptical about this being a 'new' thing, the only difference being the shorter intervals. The article says that longer intervals aren't as effective for overweight people, which could simply mean that they were very unfit to begin with, and would have to start small anyway, gradually increasing either interval time, frequency or resistance to keep up the same level of fat-burning.

I hope they will do further studies to see if this version of IT works for everyone, not just overweight people. The spot reducing claims make sense as well, I used to bike all the time and it is the best cardio exercise for a great bum, I doubt that the same results would be achieved with swimming or running. While the article comes across as a bit sensationalistic, if a lot of exercise-phobes read it this could be the start of something big.

I'd like to see that 20 minute exercise regime compared with other 20 min exercise regimes e.g. 20 minutes pilates, 20 mins running, 20 mins weight training etc. BodyTech and a few other gyms have 20 mins workouts. I used to do the BodyTech workout 3x a week plus some cardio and I have to say it worked wonders on strength and fitness.

I have divided my aerobic workouts into LSD(long slow distance) and high intensity intervals. I have been doing this for many years. At a consistant 10% body fat, it seems to work for me.

I've been doing high intensity, meaning my heart rate is about 160, along with lifting heavy weights, just about 10 exercises, three sets each, with 12 reps on the first set followed by 5 minutes on the elliptical, then 10 reps at a higher weight, then 5 on the elliptical, then the last set at 8 reps and the heaviest weight. I'm 42 and I can tell you that before I started doing this about 3 months ago I had no clue how to get in shape. This really, really works!!!
I'm following a bodybuilder's diet. I like to look at the bodybuilder's websites, like Jay Cutler, 2006 Mr. Olympia. I'm just an average wife and mom, but I really think bodybuilders know how to get in shape, and it doesn't take a lot of cardio. I want muscle to protect my immune system (it is made from your stored muscle), to protect my bones, and to burn fat.
You have to eat though, or you lose muscle, and you can't do too much cardio..hee hee!