Can Adrenaline Help You Lose Fat?
Filed Under: Fat Loss
Filed Under: Fat Loss
According to an Australian researcher, increasing adrenaline is the key to losing belly fat! Professor Steve Boutcher was one of the researchers involved in a study that compared intense interval training vs. long cardio for fat loss.
The study (published in 2007) separated 45 obese women into 2 training groups -
Group A did three 20 minute interval training sessions a week. They pedaled intensely for 8 seconds, followed by 12 seconds of light pedaling on a stationary bike, repeating this for the 20 minute session.
Group B did 40 minutes of slow, steady pace cardio for 3 sessions per week, exercising for twice as much time as the first group.
No changes were made to the diet of either group. Its been said that you can’t make up for bad eating habits with exercise, so the results of this study are very interesting.
Group A saw significant fat loss, with one participant losing 17.6 pounds in 15 weeks. Group B didn’t lose fat and one woman actually gained two pounds!
Professor Boutcher believes the results from the interval group was due to the adrenaline increase that occurs with that type of training – the release of these hormones speeds up fat burning.
Adrenaline is also known as epinephrine in the science world and is released into the blood in response to stress – your “fight or flight” hormones.
The 8 seconds of sprinting came about after different studies determined that 20 seconds was too difficult for most people and 2 to 3 seconds wasn’t enough. He advises to gradually build up to the 20 minutes exercise time and recommends a spinning bike, rower, or cross trainer (Airdyne bike).
He has found that most anyone can exercise in this manner when taking the gradual approach. Obviously, you should check with your doctor first if you have any health concerns in regards to exercise.
Once again, the lack of time excuse is busted! This information was borrowed from Turbulence Training.
Get moving!
Brian Morgan
