Interval Training & Weight Loss

I came across this new report that investigates a unique protocol for fat loss.  Researchers had two groups of overweight women perform different cycling routines.  The first group cycled for 40 minutes at a regular, continuous pace 3 times per week.  The other group performed a 20 minute workout (also three times per week), that consisted of 8 seconds of cycle sprinting, followed by 12 seconds of cycling lightly.  Subjects kept repeating this pattern for the full 20 minutes.

The researchers reported that the interval training group lost 3 times as much fat as the regular group.  It does not say how much weight was lost, but this is still a big difference across groups. 

I am trying to get more details on this study, but in the meantime it is very thought-provoking.

Comments

[will]

The Eades discuss this in their slow-burn book. When the glycolytic (fast-twitch) fibers are challenged under intense exercise, along with other improvements, the number of energy-producing, fat-burning mitochondria can increase by a factor of five. Yesterday, out at the HS, there were a couple of somewhat-pudgy fellows jogging continuously around the field while I was doing a brief workout of intense sprints, squat jumps, and leaps. My brief workout, while more subject to injury, will probably burn more fat in the long term due to the development of more metabolically active muscles.