2563: Yet Another Reason You Could Be Wasting Your Time With Long, Slow Fat-Burning Aerobic Workouts by Ben Greenfield

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[00:01:00] This is Optimal Health Daily, episode 2563.

[00:01:04] Yet another reason you could be wasting your time with long, slow, fat-burning aerobic

[00:01:09] workouts by Ben Greenfield of bengreenfieldlife.com and I'm Dr. Neal Malik.

[00:01:16] Welcome back to Optimal Health Daily where I read to you every day covering the best

[00:01:20] health and fitness blogs, with permission from the websites, of course, and always with a

[00:01:25] bit of my commentary at the end.

[00:01:27] And with that, let's get right to the post as we optimize your life.

[00:01:36] Yet another reason you could be wasting your time with long, slow, fat-burning aerobic workouts

[00:01:42] by Ben Greenfield of bengreenfieldlife.com.

[00:01:47] Check out this excerpt from The Science Daily.

[00:01:51] Quote, The usual excuse of lack of time for not doing enough exercise is blown away by

[00:01:57] new research published in the Journal of Physiology.

[00:02:01] The study from scientists at Canada's McMaster University adds to the growing evidence for

[00:02:06] the benefits of short-term, high-intensity interval training as a time-efficient but

[00:02:12] safe alternative to traditional types of moderate long-term exercise.

[00:02:17] Astonishingly, it is possible to get more by doing less.

[00:02:22] Professor Martin Gabala says,

[00:02:24] We have shown that interval training does not have to be all-out in order to be effective.

[00:02:30] Doing 10 one-minute sprints on a standard stationary bike with about one minute of rest

[00:02:35] in between three times a week works as well in improving muscle as many hours of conventional

[00:02:41] long-term biking less strenuously.

[00:02:44] And again, that's from Professor Martin Gabala.

[00:02:47] High-intensity interval training means doing a number of short bursts of intense exercise

[00:02:53] with short recovery breaks in between.

[00:02:56] The authors have already shown with young, healthy college students that this produces

[00:03:00] the same physical benefits as conventional long-duration endurance training despite taking

[00:03:07] much less time and amazingly, actually doing less exercise.

[00:03:11] However, their previous work used a relatively extreme setup that involved all-out pedaling

[00:03:17] on a specialized laboratory bicycle.

[00:03:19] The new study used a standard stationary bicycle and a workload which was still above most people's

[00:03:25] comfort zone, about 95% of maximal heart rate, but only about half of what can be achieved

[00:03:32] when people sprint at an all-out pace.

[00:03:35] This less extreme high-intensity interval training method may work well for people that

[00:03:40] are older, less fit, and slightly overweight whose doctors might have worries about them

[00:03:46] exercising all-out.

[00:03:48] We have known for years that repeated, moderate long-term exercise tunes up fuel and oxygen

[00:03:54] delivery to muscles and aids in the removal of waste products.

[00:03:58] Exercise also improves the way muscles use the oxygen to burn the fuel in mitochondria,

[00:04:04] the microscopic power station of cells.

[00:04:07] Running or cycling for hours a week widens the network of vessels supplying muscle cells

[00:04:13] and also boosts the numbers of mitochondria in them so that a person can carry out activities

[00:04:18] of daily living more effectively and without strain, and crucially, with less risk of a

[00:04:24] heart attack, stroke, or diabetes.

[00:04:27] But the traditional approach to exercise is time-consuming.

[00:04:31] Martin Gabbala and his team have shown that the same results can be obtained in far less

[00:04:35] time with brief spurts of higher-intensity exercise.

[00:04:40] To achieve the study's equivalent results by endurance training, you'd need to complete

[00:04:45] over 10 hours of continuous, moderate bicycling exercise over a two-week period.

[00:04:51] The secret to why high-intensity interval training is so effective is unclear.

[00:04:56] However, the study by Gabbala and coworkers also provides insight into the molecular signals

[00:05:01] that regulate muscle adaptation to interval training.

[00:05:05] It appears that high-intensity interval training stimulates many of the same cellular pathways

[00:05:10] that are responsible for the beneficial effects we associate with endurance training.

[00:05:16] The upside of doing more exercise is well known, but a big question for most people

[00:05:21] thinking of getting fit is, how much time out of my busy life do I need to spend to get the perks?

[00:05:28] Martin Gabbala says,

[00:05:30] While still a demanding form of training, the exercise protocol we used should be possible

[00:05:36] to do by the general public, and you don't need more than an average exercise bike, Gabbala adds.

[00:05:42] The McMaster team's future research will examine whether high-intensity interval training

[00:05:47] can bring health benefits to people who are overweight or who have metabolic diseases

[00:05:51] like diabetes.

[00:05:53] Gabbala says,

[00:06:00] As the evidence for high-intensity interval training continues to grow,

[00:06:04] a new frontier in the fitness field emerges.

[00:06:08] End quote.

[00:06:10] Folks, as a fitness, triathlon, and fat loss consultant, I finally started seeing big results

[00:06:16] in my clients and athletes when I began incorporating a high amount of high-intensity interval training

[00:06:21] in their programs.

[00:06:23] It is the entire philosophy I utilized to design the fat-burning book,

[00:06:27] Shape 21, the Lean Body Manual.

[00:06:29] It is also the same philosophy I used to design the Triathlon Dominator, a complete plan for

[00:06:35] succeeding at Ironman and Half-Ironman triathlons with half of the normal training time.

[00:06:41] That's not all.

[00:06:42] It is the same philosophy I used to design every beginner, intermediate, and advanced sprint,

[00:06:48] Olympic, Half-Ironman, and Ironman triathlon plan at the Rockstar Triathlete Academy,

[00:06:54] and is the focus of many of our coach Q&A calls and forum discussions.

[00:06:58] As I've said before, long, slow, aerobic fat-burning workouts certainly have a time and place.

[00:07:05] For example, one such time and place is in the morning for anywhere from 20 to 60 minutes

[00:07:10] when you need an extra fat-burning boost if you can still find the time to do intervals

[00:07:16] and metabolic resistance training later in the day.

[00:07:19] Another use of such workouts would be to train your body for a competition

[00:07:23] and gain the mental and physical tolerance to sit in a bicycle saddle for 5 to 8 hours or

[00:07:29] to stay on your feet during a marathon for 2.5 to 5 hours.

[00:07:33] But don't fool yourself into thinking that you're getting significantly fitter during these long

[00:07:38] sessions, especially when compared to fast interval training, and only rely on these

[00:07:43] long sessions as part of an endurance training program that includes intervals

[00:07:47] or as part of a fat loss program if you can still find the time to do intervals.

[00:07:57] You just listened to the post titled,

[00:07:59] Yet Another Reason You Could Be Wasting Your Time With Long, Slow, Fat-Burning Aerobic Workouts

[00:08:05] by Ben Greenfield of bengreenfieldlife.com and I'll be right back with my commentary.

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[00:09:21] Dr. Neil here for my commentary.

[00:09:23] For a long time, it was believed that the type of high-intensity interval training

[00:09:28] described in today's article was dangerous for most people.

[00:09:32] That this type of training is only okay for those that are already fit to begin with.

[00:09:37] This is what I learned when I was in school.

[00:09:39] I mean, pushing the body to the point of exhaustion like that just sounds dangerous, right?

[00:09:45] But thankfully, with more and more research studies, we now know this isn't the case.

[00:09:50] It turns out that the body is actually pretty tough

[00:09:53] and many of us can participate in these short bouts of high-intensity exercise safely.

[00:09:59] It is, of course, always a good idea to have your doctor approve of any exercise routine

[00:10:05] before you start.

[00:10:06] And yes, this even includes lower-intensity exercises

[00:10:10] or what today's article called slow aerobic workouts.

[00:10:14] So, once your doctor clears you, give these types of interval exercises a try.

[00:10:19] You might find they save you quite a bit of time and you'll still improve your fitness.

[00:10:25] Alright, that'll do it for today's episode.

[00:10:27] I hope you're having a great day

[00:10:29] and I'll be back here tomorrow for our usual Friday Q&A where your optimal life awaits.