Low intensity vs. High intensity to burn fat?

[Bwestmuscle]

Okay, people always claim to lose stubborn fat from high intensity cardio..

but people also claim to lose fat BETTER while doing low intensity..

i dont feel like im doing anything at a low intensity pace.

so which is best to do, and what works for you guys best?

Thanks a TON!!! (in advance)

[greekmanman]

Okay, people always claim to lose stubborn fat from high intensity cardio..

but people also claim to lose fat BETTER while doing low intensity..

i dont feel like im doing anything at a low intensity pace.

so which is best to do, and what works for you guys best?

Thanks a TON!!! (in advance)

I have been doing something called alpha-mediated cardio which is basically some HIIT followed up by low to medium steady state cardio.

This protocol has been working great for me.

I found this on Lyle McDonald's website bodyrecomposition.com;

"Originally Posted by Lyle McDonald
Getting Rid of Stubborn Bodyfat- by Lyle McDonald

Without going into the brutally long and complicated mental computations that led me to this (and I'm still working on the overall scheme), here's my current thoughts on how to approach it.

First and foremost, this is one of the places where morning/pre-breakfast cardio is probably crucially important.

An hour or two before cardio, take 200 mg caffeine with 1-3 grams of L-tyrosine (NO ephedrine).

There are two segments to the cardio:

- The first segment is for mobilization, to get those stubborn fatty acids out of the fat cell.
- The second segment is the oxidation part, to burn them off in the muscle.

For the first segment of the cardio, use a machine that you don't normally use. So if you normally do the treadmill, do the first segment on the stairmaster or bike or something. Just make it different.

First segment:
warmup: 3-5 minutes
go hard: 5-10 minutes. I mean hard, as hard as you can stand for the entire time. This will NOT be fun on lowered blood glucose. I've considered putting intervals here but haven't found the data I need to make up my mind. If you do intervals, go something like 5X1' all out with a 1' break (10' total intervals)

Rest 5', just sit on your butt, drink water, try not to puke.

Go to your normal cardio machine. Do at least 30 minutes at moderate/high moderate intensity (below lactate threshold but decent intensity). I'd say 45' maximum here but I'm still making up my mind and looking at data.

Go home, and wait and hour before having a small protein meal (25-50 grams or so). No dietary fat. 2-3 hours later, go back to normal diet eating. Your daily calories shouldn't be any different than they were already, they are just distributed differently, you only have 100-200 immediately after cardio, and then the rest afterwards.

I'd do that maybe 3 days per week to start, and see what happens.

Why this works

To get stubborn fat mobilized, you have to overcome a fairly severe resistance in terms of both blood flow and lipolysis, this requires very high concentrations of catecholamines (adrenaline/noradrenaline). Sadly, jacking up levels of catecholamines (necessary for mobilization) limits burning in the muscle which is why you follow the high intensity with low intensity.

Basically, you jack up levels to get the fat mobilized, and then let them fall so that the fatty acid can be burned in the muscle.

I have a study showing that Ephedrine before intense activity lowers the catecholamine response, that's the reason for avoiding it. Studies also show a lower than normal catecholamine response as people adapt to a given type of cardio; doing a different machine will result in a higher catecholamine response than you'd other wise get.


The bigger problem with stubborn fat has to do with:

- Blood flow to the fat cells: which is typically very low, odds are your butt is cold to the touch compared to other areas of your body
- It's harder to mobilize: both because of impaired blood flow, and because of adrenoceptor issues.

Oral yohimbe (0.2 mg/kg) can be effective when used over the long term. Don't take it within 3-4 hours of taking ephedrine, and start with a half-dose to assess tolerance (some people get really freaky responses from it). IF you can find pharmaceutical yohimbine, it's far far better than the herbal version (and most of the herbal versions are crap, the only one I trust is Twinlab Yohimbe Fuel).

Taking the yohimbe with caffeine prior to morning cardio does seem to help with very stubborn fat.

A couple comments:

1. There was a great study on Yohimbe effectiveness for weightloss. You can find it in our Research Corner forum. And if you want to try it - go to an online retailer and get bulk yohimbine hcl powder. Recommended dosage is 0.2mg/kg of bodyweight.

2. Someone asked Lyle if you had to do it first thing in the morning if you were eating low-carbs. Short answer is no. So since you'll be Phase 1, any time of day should work. Here's his answer:"

[Shr3dJunki3]

Okay, people always claim to lose stubborn fat from high intensity cardio..

but people also claim to lose fat BETTER while doing low intensity..

i dont feel like im doing anything at a low intensity pace.

so which is best to do, and what works for you guys best?

Thanks a TON!!! (in advance)

HIIT usually forces you to use fast twitch muscle fibers which might help you retain more muscle mass, while low intensity cardio is known for for efficient fat utilization.
In the end, whatever's more convenient for you plus a calorie deficit through diet will do.
Cardio isn't even needed.

[feinburgrl]

Jog for 20 to 45 minutes and don't think about the high vs low.

[NaturalNathan]

Okay, people always claim to lose stubborn fat from high intensity cardio..

but people also claim to lose fat BETTER while doing low intensity..

i dont feel like im doing anything at a low intensity pace.

so which is best to do, and what works for you guys best?

Thanks a TON!!! (in advance)

low intensity cardio burns mainly fat for energy, while the high intensity burns sugar. BUT low intensity burns a verry low amount of calories, while high intenstity burns a huge amount of calories.

[Bwestmuscle]

low intensity cardio burns mainly fat for energy, while the high intensity burns sugar. BUT low intensity burns a verry low amount of calories, while high intenstity burns a huge amount of calories.

so whats some examples of low intensity workouts?

[msm00b]

Jog for 20 to 45 minutes and don't think about the high vs low.

This, or run (if you can) for 20-45 minutes.

My thoughts:

Per unit time, HIIT will burn more calories than LISS. Per session, most people will burn more total calories with LISS though as it is sustainable for longer. True HIIT should have you gasping for breath in short order ... and if your sessions are going longer than 20 minutes you likely weren't pushing your body into true HIIT ranges anyways. If you only have 15-30 minutes to do your cardio, you might get more out of a HIIT session, but most of us actually will burn more calories with a lower intensity, longer duration session.

Or better yet, do both and just alternate. HIIT will hit different muscles in different ways than lower intensity longer duration exercises.

Don't worry about which one is better ... just find something you enjoy and do it.

so whats some examples of low intensity workouts?

Jogging. If you can tolerate frank running, that kinda gets you into a medium-intensity. Sprints vs fast 1-mile runs with cycled rest would get you into the HIIT range.

[cilenamo]

This, or run (if you can) for 20-45 minutes.
Don't worry about which one is better ... just find something you enjoy and do it.

Best answer given. I finally gave up on low vs high and found something I can do for 30-45mins and enjoy it.

[adamrochester]

do both man use the benefits of both

eg hitt 2x per week liss 2-3 xs per week