SuppVersity - Nutrition and Exercise Science for Everyone

HIIT has been touted to work its fat burning magic by increasing post-exercise oxygen consumption aka EPOC, a marker of the amount of fat you burn after your workouts. Eventually, however, only the total oxygen consumption and energy expenditure count and this is where the putative mechanism behind the fat loss effects of HIIT lacks scientific backup. Higher excess postexercise oxygen consumption (EPOC) after high-intensity interval exercise (HIIT / HIE) and sprint interval exercise (SIE) has long been touted to explain the greater fat loss scientists observed in several studies which compared the fat loss effects effects classic "cardio" aka steady-state exercise (SSE) to interval training (HIIT / HIE). To elucidate whether that's a reasonable and, more importantly, sufficient  (meaning: "Is the increased energy expenditure high enough to explain the fat loss, even if the steady state exercise consumes more energy and fat on total?") explanation for the p...

I am still waiting for a study using only body weight exercises like squats, push ups, burpees and co as a HIIT regimen for weight or rather fat loss. While HIIT is gaining ground especially in male muscle heads, women like the twenty-three previously untrained women (28.43 ± 12.53 years), who participated in a recent study from the Department of Sport at the  School of Physical Education and  Sport  of the  University of Sao Paulo in Brazil (Panissa. 2016), are gravitating rather towards training in the alleged ( but non-existing ) "fat burning" zone at an intensity of 70% of their individual HRmax. I guess, Panissa et al. knew that, because in their latest study they compared the effects of 6 weeks of high-intensity intermittent training (HIIT) to those of moderate intensity continuous exercise (MICT-control group) on body composition (skinfold measures), hunger and food intake. Read more about exercise-related studies at the SuppVersity Tri- or Multi-S...

Training in the fat burning zone works. But the claim that it was the best way to lose weight is certainly subject specific. Time for a brief overview of the latest research on obesity, it's health consequences and potential causes. I mean, you don't really believe that the result of a recent review in Nutrition Reviews is more than the sum of biased research that appears to hilariously suggest that "grain products are more protective than fruits and vegetables" (Fardet. 2014). We have heard that way too often and just like the claim that "dairy/milk products have a neutral effect on the risk of diet-related chronic diseases, while red/processed meats tend to increase the risk" (Fardet. 2014) we have not yet made any progress in out battle against obesity, type 2 diabetes, and various types of cardiovascular disease and cancer. It does not always have to be HIIT , ladies and gentlemen, trainers & trainees Never Train To Burn Calories! Tabat...

If we go by the convincing results of the study at hand, the fasted cardio myth is obviously busted. Sometimes the day you've been waiting for comes faster than you'd thought... no, I am not talking about a teen's eighteens birthday or Christmas (reminds me, I still have to buy a ton of presents), but rather of the recently hinted at "fasted cardio study" by Brad Jon Schoenfeld, Alan Albert Aragon, Colin D Wilborn, James W Krieger and Gul T Sonmez. The study of which I wrote only 2 days ago in my article about the 50% increase in fatty acid oxidation in fasted vs. fed morning cardio (learn more ). And it is in fact the study which may finally solve the "Is fasted cardio good for your weight loss?"-question. In contrast to the previously discussed paper, Schoenfeld et al. who started with the common hypothesis that "performing aerobic exercise after an overnight fast accelerates the loss of body fat" (Schoenfeld. 2014), did not content ...

Can fasted cardio switch on your "fat burning mode. And, more importantly, will it help you lose body fat faster? Before you get overtly excited about this being the study to finally solve the "fasted cardio" conundrum (i.e. answer the question "Will fasted cardio promote fat loss?"), I want to warn you. To answer this question, we will have to wait for Brad Schoenfeld's latest study on the chronic effects of fasted cardio to be released. The study at hand, which was conducted by researchers from the Graduate School of Comprehensive Human Sciences at the University of Tsukuba can only inform us about the acute (24h) metabolic effects of cardio at different timepoints and with different amounts of food in the tummy (Iwayama. 2014). High intensity interval training aka HIIT is more than just an alternative for steady state. Never Train To Burn Calories! Tabata = 14.2kcal /min ≠ Fat Loss 30s Intervals + 2:1 Work/Rec. Making HIIT a Hit Pa...

If you ever wondered why you're huffing and puffing for hours after your HIIT sessions, here is the answer! Your oxygen consumption can be used as a measure of fatty acid oxidation and total energy demands. It is one of the frequently used output variables in training studies and it is often cited as one of the arguments of the friends of "classic" cardio training like jogging on a treadmill or cycling at a medium intensity. Why? Well, if you cycle for one hour you will obviously consume more oxygen (O2), than you'd do within 10 minutes of high intensity interval training, right? In a recent study scientists from the Department of Kinesiology at the Ivor Wynne Centre of the McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario (Canada), Lauren E. Skelly and colleagues tested whether this initial advantage, i.e. the increased VO2 consumption and thus energy expenditure in response to the exercise, would last 24h (Skelly. 2014). You can learn more about HIIT at the SuppV...