Hello all,
I'm new here and looking to shift around 50lbs + over the coming months but I have some questions on the best way to do it. I have looked at a lot of books by "celebrity trainers" such as David Kirsch and Michael Thurmond. They all seem to get great results but give conflicting advice which is frustrating.
The main question I have is about cardio, what kind of cardio will give me maximum results, long slow sessions in my target HR range or should I push myself to a higher intensity for more calories burnt over all?
Michael Thurmond who has had some great results on Extreme Makeover suggests in his plans that working out at a moderate pace on a stationary bike or treadmill with no incline for an hour at 50 -60% of your maximum heart rate will ensure that you burn only fat as you will be in the "fat burning zone" and that when exercising at a higher intensity you are mainly burning sugar and not fat.
However from my research I have found that a lot of fitness experts are of the opinion that while working out in the fat burning zone burns only calories from fat, high intensity workouts burn more calories over all from both fat and sugar and is therefore superior.
What do you guys think of this? What approch to cardio has brought you the best results should I do high intensity and interval training, or long slow cardio as Thurmond suggests?
Or would perhaps mixing it up be an option doing a mixture of high intensity on the bike or elliptical one day and a 60 min walk the next?

Thank you everyone who took the time to read this and thanks in advance for you advice .

have a great weekend.

Kara

The calorie is king, burning the highest level of calories will cause the greatest level of weight loss

I'm sure someone will come straight in behind me with a totally different opinion though

I wouldn't put too much thought into what celebrity trainers do and the celebrities are paying much money to celebrity nutritionists.

Search for HIIT and google EPOC. For physique results-HIIT beats the slow-n-steady approach (or LISS) anyday becaue of energy expenditure.

I liken it to sprinters who look lean and marathon runners whom have a lot of over-weight people in their ranks.

The High Intensity Training you are referring to should only be done a max of 2 (possibly 3) days a week. You could supplement that by doing a light-moderate cardio workout on the other days.

Throw in some weight training as it also burns a good amount of calories (similar to the HI training). It increases your metabolic rate over time, effectively making you burn a greater number of calories when you are NOT working out. I assume that you are female so you don't have to worry about gaining muscle mass. You are lacking the levels of testosterone that build mass. A good combo of weight training/HIIT/Steady State cardio is a great way to burn the max amount of calories possible.

Also....everything I have just said is BUNK unless your diet is in order.

Thanks for responding guys!
The advice seems to be to mix it up and do a bit of both but include a couple of High Intensity/ Interval training each week for best results.
I am going to do some weight training 3 times a week although I do have some questions about that also for example is it better to work each muscle group on seperate days e.g. 1. Upper Body 2. Mid Section 3. Lower body
Or am I better to go to a full body conditioning class like Body Pump 3 times a week?

As for my diet that is a little tricky as I don't eat any meat and most plans advise lots of lean protein (chicken & fish) and to cut back on the dairy. I love my food and really can't see myself sticking to a diet of greens and egg whites.
My plans for my diet are to follow a low GI eating plan,cutting out refined food white flour, sugar etc and eating things like home cooked chickpea stew, or whole meal pitta with salad and hummus, home made low fat soups, salads etc, oatmeal for breakfast. Basically home cooked low fat, whole grain food with lots of veggies and a small amount of low fat organic milk and yogurt as well as Veggie protein shakes to boost my protein intake.
I am aiming to consume around 1500 cals a day however I will need to adjust this depending on my energy levels. However I don't intend to go any lower than this because it would just feel like starving but I do worry that my diet will hinder my weight loss.

Anyway I guess thats enough questions for now thanks again for all your advice!

Kara

You don't have to eat egg whites & greens all the time. Soy or Tofu have protein. You should also try looking into quinoa. It's a whole grain that is high in protein (complete amino acids too!) and fiber.

I think Kashi makes some decent protein cereals but I am not a big cereal person.

You're welcome too and good luck!

Although working continuously submaximally around 70% vo2mx will burn more accumalative fat which i think is the key factor.

I've done quite a lot of research on the benefits of HIIT, and how it compares to exercise of varying intensity.

If your main goal of exercise is to loose weight with the least amount of effort than LIIT is a far superior option to take. Working at or around 68% and 79% of your max heart rate will ensure that for every calorie you burn, the most amount will come from fat deposits. Although you wont maximize the total number of calories burnt off over a period of time, you are using the least amount of energy to burn off the most amount of fat.

Now, if fitness comes into the equation then HIIT is superior in more ways then one. HIIT will ensure u maximise the total calories lost given a certain period of time and will also increase your level of fitness at a far greater rate than any other training method.


If anyone can find a whole in my argument please speak up, this is obviously a rather brief overview of what i have read/learnt over the years so feel free to inform me if you think my line of thinking is wrong.

Grey Goose: the hole in your argument is you are only considering the calories and fat burned during the exercise session rather than the total amount of calories and fat burned both during the exercise session and the elevated amount of calories and fat you will burn after the exercise session compared to what you would have burned if you either did no exercise or some other type of exercise. This additional calorie and fat burning after the exercise session is sometimes called EPOC (Exercise Post Oxygen Consumption) and most experts agree that HIIT will burn both more total calories and more total fat considering both that burned during the exercise session and after the exercise session. The additional calorie and fat burning can last up to 48 hours after the exercise session due to hormonal changes caused by the exercsie session and calories expended to repair the damage from the exercsie session.

The other hole is that long duration, low intensity exercise sessions can actually trigger the body to try to store more fat. The theory is that this is because the body assumes there will be another long duration exercise session coming in the future, and it wants to be sure it has enough reserve fuel for the next session.

HIIT does not burn more fat. How would it burn more fat if it is done at great intensity where the energy rquired has to be fast and therefore comes predominately anaerobically from glucose.

Like grey goose said training at 65-75% vo2 max will incur a greater accumalative amount of fat loss. Considering HIIT is near 100% most overweight unfit people would find this extremely difficult.

I've understood that the lower percentage range will burn predominantly fat, but that the amount of calories burned is actually small compared to a high intensity workout. In that instance, although the glycolitic system is being used while the activity is taking place, I thought it actually burns a lot more calories after the activity is done. I'm guessing because work is being done to repair and replace the protein in the muscles post-activity.

dswithers,

I understand what you are saying as i have read up on hiit. The conclusion that i was coming to was that, LIT uses the least amount of effort. I do a combination of LIT and HIIT and even i feel like i want to die after the HIIT section (i'm quite a fit individual).

So to tell an obese person that HIIT is the best way to loose weight is a big no no in my mind.

Matt182 has it right, that during HIIT you will not be burning off much fat at all as the body can not get enough oxygen to use fat stores as energy, however, post excerise your body will use fat stores as energy. This however, is not an exact science so you could not estimate the amount of calories you will burn from fat after a HIIT work out.

Hope i made some sense.

This is very true, for long term fat loss you should be looking at how many calories you've burned in total rather than where the energy was initially taken from. Just because fat was used in the LIT it'll just be put back on after as your body prepares for its next long distance run

Also, distance runners have been found to have lower testosterone levels than the average man, this will result in your body losing muscle and gaining fat