Sprints : An Efficient Way to Lose Fat

Here is a summary by Ryan Halverson (IDEA Fitness Association which I am a member of) of a recent published study. The first thing I will say is you need to make sure your body is ready to sprint and that you your muscles are properly activated and balanced (email me derek@yourfitnessedge.com if you have questions). But beyond that these findings and the following summary of them are pretty amazing. Six 30 second sprints produced more fat loss than roughly 35 min of jogging?... I'm in! read on:

Time-crunched individuals interested in fat loss may want to cut running workouts short. Results from a study published in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise (2011; 43 [1], 115–22) suggest that repeated maximal-intensity sprints yield greater fat loss than longer-duration, moderate-intensity running. The 20 study participants were split into two groups: sprinters and runners. Each group ran three times per week for 6 weeks. The first group performed all-out sprints, 30 seconds in duration, six times per session. They were given a 4-minute rest between sprints. The second group ran for 30–60 minutes per session at 65% VO₂max. By the end of the 6-week study, fat mass had decreased by 5.8% in the moderate-intensity group and by 12.4% in the sprint group. Both groups experienced improvements in 2,000-meter run time and VO₂max.