Intervals Cause Spot Reduction of Belly Fat

According to Professor Steve Boucher, the Australian co-author of the latest interval training study to show intervals work better than slow cardio, "high intensity intermittent exercise may result in greater fat loss in the abdomen".

Basically, intervals burn stomach fat first, over all other sources of fat on the body.

Now we all have heard that spot reduction doesn't work. If you haven't, here is the story. For some reason, many people think that by doing tons of crunches, they will burn stomach fat. Unfortunately, that just isn't true.

In fact, Boucher quotes the following example...

"...researchers have examined the fat content of elite tennis players' racket arm. The logic here is that if a tennis player uses his racket arm much more than his other arm then the fat content should be less. Racket arms of tennis players usually possess greater muscle and bone mass but similar fat levels."

So here's the odd thing about Boucher's theory...Notice that he's not claiming sprint interval training done on a bike will burn more fat around your legs. Instead, he's claiming that interval work done by your legs will lead to a spot reduction of fat from around the belly. Completely backwards to what the beginner exerciser thinks.

Let's examine the study* Boucher is involved with...he and his colleagues put young women into two groups.

*Trapp, E.G. (2006). Effect of high intensity exercise on fat loss in young overweight women. PhD thesis.

Group 1: Three workouts per week of 20 minutes of intervals (8s sprint followed by 12s recovery) for 15 weeks

Group 2: Three cardio workouts per week of 40 minutes for 15 weeks

Group 1, the interval group, lost a signficant amount of abdominal fat.

Boucher and his group thinks this interval program will work really well in men with lots of abdominal fat.

So why do the intervals work so well?

Boucher believes it has something to do with the increase in hormones called "catecholamines" (adrenaline is a catecholamine hormone). These increase after intervals, but not after slow cardio. Catecholamines are a fat burning hormone and there are a lot of catecholamine receptors in belly fat...so he seems to think the elevated fat burning hormones from intervals ends up leading to targeted belly fat burning.

Interesting theory...we'll see if they do more research and are able to confirm that belly fat burning hypothesis. Regardless, its great to see studies showing intervals to be more effective for losing stomach fat than slow cardio workouts.

Surprisingly, Boucher recommends stationary cycling as one of the best ways to burn fat with intervals. Seems like another fat loss expert has been saying that for years now...oh yeah, it was me! The Turbulence Training for Fat Loss manual recommends stationary cycling against resistance...because I know it works.

Boucher also recommends a Mediterranean diet (lots of fruits and vegetables)...another commonality with Turbulence Training (that is, the emphasis on fruits and vegetables).

So there you go...Turbulence Training years ahead of this study, but supported by the latest scientific research and the expert's hypothesis. And don't forget, Boucher and his group didn't even throw in the Turbulence Training resistance training exercises...that probably would have resulted in even more belly fat burning and loss of stomach fat.

Keep your eyes on this blog for more fat loss research and the best fat burning programs you can get,

CB
Bodyweight Training for Intervals