Metabolic Conditioning Exercise

Most people who want to burn fat and lose weight falsely assume that going to the gym and doing traditional aerobic exercise, like jogging on the treadmill, is the best way to see results.

But recent research is proving that long distance cardiovascular exercise is NOT the fastest way to burn fat and lose weight.

If you’ve been spending hours on the treadmill and not seeing any results, it’s because long distance cardiovascular exercise can decrease testosterone and raise your stress hormone levels like cortisol. Increased levels of cortisol stimulate the appetite, increase fat storage, and slow down or inhibit exercise recovery.

A recent study in Psychoneuroendocrinology showed evidence of long-term high cortisol levels in aerobic endurance athletes. Researchers tested levels of hair cortisol in 304 endurance athletes (runners, cyclists, and triathletes) and compared to non-athletes. The results showed higher cortisol levels with higher training volumes.

The Journal of Sports Sciences found that long periods of aerobic exercise increased oxidative stress leading to chronic inflammation.

So, What’s the #1 Exercise to Burn Fat Fast?

If you want to see results fast without the negative benefits of cardiovascular exercise, your best option is burst training. Burst training (aka interval training) combines short, high-intensity bursts of exercise, with slow, recovery phases, repeated during one exercise session. Burst training is done at 85-100% maximum heart rate rather than 50-70% in moderate endurance activity.

Similar exercise methods to burst training include High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) and the Tabata method. With burst and other types of interval training you are getting the same cardiovascular benefits as endurance exercise but without the negative side effects. Also, burst training is the fastest way to lose weight and burn fat fast.

Essentially, burst training is exercising like a sprinter rather than a marathon runner.

Key Benefits of Burst Training

• Can burn up to 3x more body-fat than moderate cardio
• After two weeks of interval training, fat burning increased by 36%
• Your body will continue to burn fat for the next 48 hours after you are done exercising
• You can workout in less time and see better results