Sprinting, Rest Periods, and Weight Loss III

A good question is how long should the rest periods be between sprints for maximum fat burning.  The answer is that it's probably too long to be practical.

A group of researchers from Colorado State did a unique experiment on this topic.  They had subjects perform 60 seconds of maximal intensity work separated by 1 hour of rest.  It was discovered that just four of these one minute bouts (and the calories burned during the 1 hour recoveries) burned more calories than 20 minutes of low-intensity exercise.

Of course, it's not practical for most people to perform sprints with rest periods this long.  But it is interesting from a theoretical standpoint to see that there is in fact more calories burned this way.

One other thing to note about sprints with long rest periods is that they will not maximally improve aerobic or anerobic capacity.  The Tabata protocol does appear to be a very effective way to improve both of these capabilities.  It was primarily designed for this purpose, and not to burn fat.  In a brief email correspondence I had with Tabata himself years ago, he stated that their athletes relied on more moderate, high-volume exercise to burn fat.