Most of us believe that exercising in one long session will burn more fat than taking a break in the middle of your workout.
Wrong.
In the June 2007 edition of the Journal of Applied Physiology, a Japanese study was published showing just the opposite.
It seems that more fat is burned both during and after exercise if you have a rest period in the middle of your workout.
The researchers studied 7 healthy men of about 25 years old who were physically active.
They compared three activity regimens:
- A single 60-minute exercise session followed by a 60-minute recovery period.
- Two 30-minute exercise sessions with a 20-minute rest in between and a 60-minute recovery period after the second session.
- A 60-minute rest period which was the control.
The men exercised at the same time of day on a cycling machine. All other factors were controlled to make the comparisons scientifically valid.
The second regimen of exercise–rest–exercise–rest produced the greatest amount of fat breakdown.
In the last 15 minutes of exercise with the second regimen, there was also a noticeable increase in the concentrations of free fatty acids and glycerol (chemical compounds that are released when your body uses stored fat).
A combination of high epinephrine and low insulin concentration may also have caused greater fat breakdown.
In addition, more fat breakdown occurred during the recovery period with the second regimen.
For obese individuals, the American College of Sports Medicine recommends moderate exercise of 45 to 60 minutes at a time.
But this study suggests that splitting up your exercise session with a rest period may actually burn more fat than one long exercise period.
The Japanese researchers plan more studies to explore how different exercise regimens affect different types of individuals.
In the future, they may be able to give us even better recommendations for how to exercise to lose weight and burn fat.
