What's better sprint or long run...?

[parkers]

Hi,

I have signed up with a personal trainer (need someone to kick my ar**)...

When I go to the gym I run for 5k..
When he trains me he makes me sprint for 30 sec then jump off for 30 secs, repeat this a few times and then sprint for 40 jump off for 20 repeating until I am nearly dead !!

What is the benefit of doing this....?
Rather than run for 5k....??

[Loosehead]

It's called interval training, it improves fitness by forcing the body to recover quickly. A 5k run will improve baseline CV fitness and endurance but interval training will improve performance in things that need short bursts of intensity with small rests between them. Interval training is excellent for Rugby, Football, Hockey etc.

[parkers]

Hi Loosehead,

Thanks for that... what I want is to burn fat and lose weight... Is this still a good way to do this..?

I like watching sport, definitely not playing !!!

[abranei]

For fat loss you need to use more energy in a day than the energy given by the foods you consume. This creates a calorie deficit.

When losing fat you need to perfom excersice to 70% of you aerobic capacity for 30-60mins. 3 times a week.

Dont reduce you calories too much as you can put your body into hibernation mode and no amount of excersise will shift the fat. You will end up using your muscle for energy and slows your metabolism. Once this happens you
will need to eat inorder get of out hibernation mode

Dont just run and eat each week without monitoring your Lean mass and fat levels get a skinfold caliper from ebay (I have the Accu-measure one) It has some basic cals to figure out whats happening to you body. Say your 4 weeks into training and your BF (Bodfy fat) has not dropped you know that you need to reduce calories or increase you excercise. This way you wont wast weeks of training for nothing.

BTW make sure you foods are clean (No sugars or refined crap)

www.burnthefatblog.com (This guy knows his stuff)
www.burnthefat.com (One of the best reads about fat loss)

[parkers]

Thank you abranei - I measured by heart rate when I was running last night and went up to 182...
On the treadmill it said in the table thing that to burn fat it should be about 155...??
I don't understand why mine is so high..?
I'm nearly 30 and no more than 2 stone over weight..
I'm not massively unfit either
Oh and that was whilst running at 9.0 so not fast at all really...

[abranei]

There r two zones Fat burning and Cardio. The chart shows what your heart rate should be for fat burning mode,

If your heart rate was 182 your probably in cardio mode and need to reduce your pace.

Dont mix up your max heart rate for your age with fat burning or cardio zones. These zones are below your max heart rate.

Through out the day you eat and your body takes on energy and its gets stored in the blood (Glycogen). When in Cardio mode your pretty much maxing out and you wont run very far before burning out. This high intensitiy excersise tends not to use fat as energy but from Glycogen stores and then muscle.

The Fat burn zone allows you to run further ( 70% max aerobic capacity). 30-60 mins will cause your body to use up the Glycogen stores in your blood and then begin to use its fat stores. Fat loss is about the 70% capacity and the length of time you run. Anything less and you will probably wont burn fat.

Get the caliper it cos �5-�10 and will show whats happening to you fat and muscle mass. Monitor and Measure and adapt your eating and training until you get the results