You may have heard that intense exercise, like a running sprint, burns more carbohydrates, while a longer, slower activity burns more fat. There is truth to that, as an immediate and fast activity can burn the more readily accessible carbs more efficiently than stored fat. But what's important to know is that the longer the physical activity, the more the ratio changes between burning carbs and burning fat. A 15-minute run on the treadmill might burn more carbs than fat, but if you walk for 15 minutes, run for 15 minutes and then walk for 15 more minutes, you'll burn carbs and stored fat. Most importantly, you'll be burning calories, and that's the real key to weight loss.
Interval training
Interval training involves alternating intense bursts of activity with periods of rest or less-intensive activity. New York trainer Stefan Aschan suggests a 30-minute workout, say on a treadmill, where you start at about 65 percent of your maximum effort for 10 minutes, then move up to 95 percent of your max for 10 minutes and then move back to 65 percent for the last 10 minutes. Because you're changing the physical demands on your body, you would burn more calories and more stored fat than you would have if you had run at 85 percent of max the whole time.
Singles tennis
The key to making tennis a great fat-burning activity is to play with someone who will get you moving side to side and front to back. An hour of intense singles tennis can burn as many calories as a one-hour run at a 12-minute-mile pace, or between 450 and 600 calories. The longer you play, the more likely you are to burn fat.
Circuit training
Unlike interval training, circuit training involves working out without slowing down. Think of going from one weight workout to the next without pausing and then repeating the circuit two more times. Trainer Vern Gambetta, formerly director of athletic development for the New York Mets, suggests in a Men's Health online article titled "Ignite Your Fat-Burning Furnace" that you can get an even more intense fat-burning workout by adding 30 to 45 seconds of cardio between sets of weightlifting.
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