I was talking to a trainer at my gym today and she was really emphatic about doing cardio in intervals -- high intensity for a few minutes, then low, then high, then low. She said they've shown that this burns more calories than just going at high intensity alone. I'll have to try this.

Do you do intervals when you work out?

I used to. My trainer told me the same thing.. and I actually lost more weight doing that. I stopped doing it though because now I'm obsessed with Zumba!

oooh i am so excited! this is basically what i am doing to try to build up into running... walk, run, walk, run, walk, run, etc... so it's kind of like low and then high intensity alternating!

will be SO EXCITED to lose extra poundage

Suzanne - what's a zumba?

I did this when my elliptical worked but it died about two weeks ago. As soon as it is running again I will be too!

Ooooh, Zumba. I've been meaning to try it but it's Wednesday mornings here. That's Pidge's day off school so we have a tough time getting motivated.

Suzanne, correct me if I'm wrong: Zumba is a latin style dance-based aerobics class. It is supposed to be a lot of fun and very easy. Don't think you can't do it because you have 2 left feet.

I've heard intervals also work with Weight Watchers. There's tons of info on the boards but basically you eat different point values on different days instead of eating the same number of points every day.

My mom swears by Zumba -- she loves it. I haven't found it at my gym, but considering trying it somewhere else.

I have some friends who teach Zumba and they love it.

And I love interval training! I have much more stamina and will work out longer if I change up the pace.

Hi All-

I concur with your trainer- we suggest doing interval training in our weight loss programs because it does burn more calories.

It also helps to mix it up after awhile. Once your muscles get conditioned to a certain routine they burn less calories because they are more efficient. By changing your exercise every once in awhile to use new muscle groups you burn more. This works well if you hit a plateau for those working on weight loss.

Plus it is just more fun anyways! I'm all for fun with exercise.

Meri

Meri -- since we're on the burning more calories topic, what's your opinion of the old theory that if you work out too hard, you're not burning as much fat? I was used to hearing this and then one of the trainers said forget all that, work out hard, sweat, mix it up, and don't worry about the moderate workout to burn fat stuff.

Hey Nataly-

I think their both true. Anaerobic activity does burn calories but less calories than aerobic exercise but has other benefits such as:

- develop stronger muscles
- improve respiratory system
- and greater endurance/less fatigue


I think it also depends entirely on your goals. If you are 30 pounds plus over weight and you haven't been exercising you can do alot of moderate exercise to burn fat. If you are within your ideal body weight range or 5-10 pounds over and you want to appear lean and muscular then you'll want to kick it up a notch like your trainer said. Every person is really different.

"Suzanne, correct me if I'm wrong: Zumba is a latin style dance-based aerobics class. It is supposed to be a lot of fun and very easy. Don't think you can't do it because you have 2 left feet."

Yea it's latin style but it also incorporates African and hip hop. And it's a TON of fun. I think easy or not is a mind over matter thing. My friend who has "white girl rhythm" finds it a bit difficult to swing her hips around but she says she has so much fun doing it.
Plus.. the other women in the class aren't watching you. They're too busy trying to master the moves themselves to be concerned with others. So there's no need to be self-conscious.

There's no other place (well.. err.. except for hubby) that I can bust a move like that I couldn't recommend it more!

Hi Nataly and all-

I gave some incorrect info above. I just spoke with an exercise physiologist and the latest research shows that anaerobic burns more calories total because your body continues to burn those calories after the workout itself for a longer period of time than aerobic.

We both agreed that this type of exercise is appropriate for those who are already in fairly good shape. It may be too much for someone who hasn't been exercising at all but something to work towards.

Sorry about that!

Meri