Shorter Workouts Create More Weight and Fat Loss.
Weight Loss Exercise: 30 minutes could be better than 60
- – A study of 60 healthy, but overweight, Danish men had participants workout either 30 or 60 minutes daily wearing a heart-rate monitor and calorie counter.
- The men who worked out for 30 minutes a day lost on an average about 8 pounds over a 3 month period, compared to 6 pounds for those who exercised 60 minutes daily.
- Researchers who conducted the study felt that those who exercised for 30 minutes burned more calories than they should have relative to the training program designed for them.
- On the other hand, the men who exercised for 60 minutes lost less body weight compared to the energy they burned by running, hiking or rowing.
- Part of the explanation could be that people found 30 minutes of exercise doable and that participants still had energy to be more physically active during the day.
- – Finally, researchers suggested that it is likely the men who exercised 60 minutes a day possibly ate more to compensate for the longer workout sessions and lost less weight than anticipated.
Last year, I had a talk with Alwyn Cosgrove of Results Fitness when we were at the 2nd Turbulence Training Summit. I told him I was teaching 60 minute cardio classes and he warned me that I would have to change that in order to get the figure I wanted. I didn’t listen. I thought I could tweak the class and adjust my intensity to make up for the duration of the workout. It simply didn’t work.
It may be that people who are naturally slender can do long cardio sessions and stay that way. I’ve been obese. When I was a child I was chubby, I had very little strength, and I had even less endurance. I struggled for years to get the figure I wanted, and it finally happened when I cut out the cardio and started Density training with bodyweight exercises, weighted resistance, and interval training. Then, after I got the figure and my certification, I went back to my old ways.
Shame on me for not following my instincts, my conviction, and my inner wisdom. I deserved every one of those 15 pounds I regained.
No more. From now on my dance fitness classes will be 45 minutes including the warm up, cool down, and stretch. This will ensure that we’re never in the “Cortisol Zone” for more than 40 minutes. I get so much pleasure from dance- it’s so much fun! But the principal purpose of Gordon Studio is safety, fat loss, and body re-composition.
It’s funny, I saw Star Trek yesterday, and I realized I had violated my “Prime Directive.” It’s time to do what works according to the research and my core beliefs.
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