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<\/p>\nThe most common reason cyclists approach me for coaching is that they want to be lighter, because we all know the importance of power to weight. No one wants to carry a backpack loaded with bricks up hills \u2013 nor a waistline loaded with flab into a road race.<\/p>\n
So I tell them to \u2018eat less and exercise more\u2019? No. No I don\u2019t. I hate to break it to you but \u2018eat less, exercise more\u2019 only has a 5% long-term success rate. It\u2019s also not all about calories as we\u2019re not a sealed unit where calories in and calories out have a great relevance \u2013 we have hormones and feedback loops and all kinds of mad things going under the skin.<\/p>\n
Ah, it must be a \u2018fat burning zone\u2019 thing then? It\u2019s printed on all the cardio machines in the gym after all. Well no.<\/p>\n
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You\u2019d think that the fact that there is a level of intensity at which fat contributes a greater proportion of energy to fuel exercise would be awesome news for anyone trying to reduce body fat levels. Whilst the level of intensity varies from one individual to another and also within one individual from day to day, based on training status and nutritional inputs, it\u2019s essentially a relatively low intensity. So saunter along at an easy pace and lose fat?<\/p>\n
Well not as such. If you do that you\u2019ll be training the muscle to be good at burning fat as fuel \u2013 which can be a good thing, sparing muscle glycogen for intense efforts later in a race for example. However that\u2019s a totally different matter to actually losing excess body fat.<\/p>\n
Surely burning fat for fuel means getting rid of fat? Well it does, but low intensity exercise isn\u2019t the best method.<\/p>\n
Firstly at low intensities you\u2019ll burn very little body fat in the first place. One gram of fat is worth 9 calories. Since \u2018fat-burning zone\u2019 exercise burns roughly 140 to 180 calories in 30 minutes, with an estimate of 50 to 60 percent of those calories coming from fat it translates 8 to 12g of fat in 30 minutes – or two times that amount in an hour – good luck losing 5kg at that rate!<\/p>\n
The second reason to avoid long and slow training sessions is that they increase appetite, whilst high intensity intervals suppress appetite. So you may have done 3 hours and burned 60 grams of fat (whoop) but you\u2019re more likely to reach for the tub of ice cream afterwards.<\/p>\n
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An interval session will have a greater calorie cost when recovery metabolism is included, and also suppresses hunger. Whilst losing body fat is not a simple case of \u2018calories in calories out\u2019, calories do play some part in waist management.<\/p>\n
You don\u2019t believe me, do you? Boffins had two groups participate in different exercise sessions. Seventeen subjects trained on an indoor bike four to five times per week for 20 weeks, with workouts lasting from 30 to 45 minutes and exercise intensity ranged from 60-85 per cent of maximal heart rate.<\/p>\n
A second group of 10 subjects completed 30-minute workouts at an intensity comparable to that attained by the first group. However, the second group also conducted 19 short and 16 long interval sessions during their 15-week programme. The short-interval sessions consisted of 10 to 15 intervals lasting for 15-30 seconds, while the long-interval efforts were composed of four to five intervals with durations of 60-90 seconds.<\/p>\n
Total energy expenditure during training was twice as great in the first group as in the second group \u2013 the steady intensity riders burned more calories. Each group achieved about a 30% increase in maximal\u00a0aerobic capacity, which is great for boosting cycling performance. Most surprisingly however, the interval-trained athletes (who performed less total work, ie calorie count remember) had a 9x greater loss of body fat than the first group.<\/p>\n
And another thing! Remember last month’s 100m finals at the Olympics – men and women. What do the fastest men and women on earth look like? They\u2019re not the fattest athletes on display are they? In fact I suspect they have less body fat than marathon runners yet how much training time do you think they spend in their \u2018fat-burning zones\u2019? How many 90 minute runs do they do? None. Ever.<\/p>\n
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So what should<\/em> you do to lose body fat? Firstly, forget about your fat burning zone. The simple answer is to choose food and exercise that will control your appetite and hunger effectively, avoid switching on the sugar fuelled ovens in the body when you start the day, and focus on high intensity interval training. Look at what you\u2019re about to eat, ask yourself if it\u2019s likely to make you healthier. Don\u2019t equate fat in food with gaining body fat – it\u2019s not that simple. Choose foods that don\u2019t encourage the storage of body fat, which in practical terms means that unless you\u2019re exercising hard, set aside the sugar for the builder\u2019s tea and the pasta for after training.<\/p>\n Oh, and lift heavy things. Make your muscle work hard regularly, swing a kettlebell, do intense intervals on the bike, hit the squat rack, the Zumba \u2013 anything that takes the intensity way about what is comfortable for repeated intermittent efforts<\/p>\n Now the bit where I contradict myself – it\u2019s not all a big downer on exercising to become more efficient at burning fat. It does have an important a role to play for enhancing endurance performance in longer events, preserving glycogen and allowing you to plod on without pockets and bottles full of sugar. \u00a0Being good at burning fat can greatly help many forms of cycling activity. To become better at fat burning, ride in a fasted state and ride long. Don\u2019t fuel up on cereals and gels before a sportive – that will switch your fat burning off. Don\u2019t be afraid of eating fats – Do all of this and keep riding when you feel empty to force your muscle to make powerful adaptations – turning you into an efficient fat burning machine that will drag your bike though the darkness of a 400km audax, or the last hour of the Marmotte.<\/p>\n Dave Smith<\/p>\n