Most people know that exercise is an important part of any weight loss program, but there is considerable confusion over what type of exercise and how much is needed to produce maximum results. Even experts cannot agree as to what the "right" exercise is to produce weight loss, and in part this confusion lies in the fact that many experts rely on only a partial analysis of the available research on exercise physiology, and there is often a tendency to make "one-size-fits-all" recommendations, when the reality is that different people will actually get different results from different approaches.

Let's begin with what the current research on exercise physiology tells us. It is well-established that it takes approximately 30 minutes of any kind of exercise for the body to burn off its glycogen (stored sugar) reserves and begin burning fat. So, most experts recommend at least 30 minutes of exercise, and generally 60 minutes or more may be recommended to get a good amount of fat burning. Now, if you are going to be exercising for 30 to 60 minutes, or maybe more, what type of exercise would you be able to do for that length of time? It probably would have to be low to medium intensity. In other words, you're probably not going to be able to run full speed or do any other type of high-intensity exercise for 30 to 60 minutes without a rest, unless you happen to be an elite athlete, and even then you'd be struggling. So, by default, the common recommendation for exercise to lose weight has been 30 to 60 minutes of low to medium intensity aerobic exercise. Aerobic translates to "in the presence of oxygen", which in common language means that aerobic exercise is any type of activity that you can do without gasping for breath.

In recent years, some experts have changed their recommendations to using a more intense anaerobic ("without oxygen") exercise program for weight loss. This would include things like intense weight lifting, and something called "interval training". Interval training involves brief bursts of high intensity activity with periods of rest or low intensity activity in between. For example, you might run full out for 30 seconds or a minute and then walk for a minute or two until you catch your breath and then run again full out for 30 seconds to a minute, walk again, etc.. Since this type of exercise is much more physically demanding, it is done over a much shorter overall workout period - perhaps 20 to 40 minutes (with half or more of that time being rest or low intensity activity), as compared to the 30 to 60 minutes of continuous activity as recommended for aerobic exercise. The question is, how do the two types of exercise compare in terms of their ability to promote fat burning?

The aerobic exercise promoters point to the research that was mentioned earlier that has shown that any exercise, no matter how intense requires at least 30 minutes to use up the body's stored glycogen (the body will normally burn glycogen before it will burn fat) before fat burning can begin. So, they say, short periods of even highly intense exercise won't burn much fat and is therefore not a good choice for promoting weight loss. But they are only seeing part of the story.

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