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Researchers have always stated that continuous cardio sessions that extend beyond 25 to 30 minutes are the way to burn maximum fat.

However, some trainers say that shorter bouts of intense cardio sessions also burn substantial amount of fat if the person’s diet plan is drawn up based exactly on his/her calorific needs.

Says Jim Stoppani, PhD, Science Editor, Weider Publications: “Scientists made certain male and female test subjects perform a 30-minute treadmill run test and certain others perform shorter sessions, each lasting 10minutes.

The first group performed the single session continuously while the second exercised taking a little gap between each 10-minute run.

The intensity was fixed at 80 per cent of the subjects’ maximum heart rate.

At the end of the study, there was no major difference between the two groups as regards the total calories expended and the amount of body fat burned.

Those who did the shorter sessions, taking short gaps between each bout, stayed fresher than those who performed the continuous session.

Breaking up cardio training into such short and intense segments is also known as interval training. Those who did such kind of aerobic exercise stored less fat in their bodies even hours after they finished their exercises.”

Says J. Muniappan, who has won Mr. India several times, “All my boys do cardio in smaller sessions.

Some of them do it before weight training and some do it after hitting the weights.

The fatter ones benefit doing cardio even in between exercises.

They may do a set of a weight training movement, hop on the treadmill and run for a few minutes and then go to perform a second set.

But this is for very well conditioned athletes and champions who want to shed the fat and get to their top shape once again very fast.”

Trainers the world over recommend interval training only to people who have been coming to the gym for quite sometime, as it needs a reasonably well-conditioned system to cater to the intense cardiovascular demands.

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