What’s better for fat loss, long duration cardio or high intensity interval training (HIIT)? Allow me to be your voice of reason throughout this article series. Today we will start with ‘Marketing Hype‘, as I believe this will shed some light on why this is such a heated debate. The mass confusion that has been generated throughout the fat loss industry is largely due to the marketing hype from people who are trying to sell you their workout program that is based on the limited research on HIIT. Their focus is on profit, rather than your best interests. Let me explain…

The Unfair Comparison

The approach that I see many of my fellow fat loss experts use is, “Wouldn’t you rather have a muscular physique like a sprinter rather than a frail and scrawny physique like a marathon runner. Here are the pictures that they reference when making the comparison…

What they claim is that if you do long boring cardio you will look like a frail marathon runner. Sometimes they will even tell you that you will get fat from doing long duration cardio… WOW!

Since when has 30 to 45 minutes of aerobic activity like jogging, biking, or even stair climbing a few times per week become the equivalent of several hours of running every day? Is it really fair to compare you to a Kenyan marathon runner?

A fair portion of my fat loss program involves long duration cardio. Take a look at my picture at the top of the page. Do I look like a frail Kenyan marathon runner? I don’t think so!

Here’s a picture of my buddy Tom Venuto. Tom has used long duration cardio to burn fat and get down under 4% body fat. Does he look frail? It wasn’t until recently that Tom began incorporating HIIT into his fat loss program.

That’s the key word… ‘INCORPORATE’. That’s exactly what I’ve been doing for the past few years. HIIT is definitely a part of my fat loss solution, but it’s not the one and only solution. More on that in a minute.

The flip flop…

So on one hand these marketers will tell you that you will look like a frail marathon runner if you do long boring cardio. Then the next day they tell you that you will get fatter if you do long duration cardio. So which one is it? And now I’m hearing claims that long duration cardio will make women get fatter legs and butts. Really???

So why is that you don’t see a whole bunch of female marathon runners jogging around with big butts and thighs?

Everyone is created differently. Many women are predisposed to carry weight in their butts and thighs. I’m sure this so-called study took these women who were genetically predisposed to carry fat in their thighs and told them to jog for a few months, and they got their answer… long duration cardio will make women get fat thighs.

The truth of the matter is that people who choose to do marathons are made of all shapes and sizes. I’ve seen some very heavy people do a marathon because of a life goal. When you get to the Olympic level, yes you are going to see some pretty scrawny people. But when you are competing at that level you have to be thin like that.

Now onto the picture of the sprinter. Do you honestly believe that if you follow a few quick workouts each week that you will get a physique like an Olympic sprinter? That is a 100% hell no! In fact, I will go as far as saying that it completely undermines the extreme efforts that these elite athletes put into developing their physiques.

Do you know how much time and effort it takes for them to create those physiques? They spend hours every day training. So much so, that most of them can’t even hold a job while they are training. Working out and training is their job.

Here’s the funny thing. Many of the fat loss experts that claim their quick workouts will make you look like an Olympic sprinter do not have an Olympic sprinter body themselves. Ask them to take their shirt off and get down to their tighty whities and show off their sprinter body. You aren’t going to see one in most cases.

The Fine Print

Here’s the part that I find amusing. Many of these programs that say you only need to workout a few minutes per week recommend, for maximum results you should perform 30 minutes of moderate intensity activity on your off days.

Hmm, and just what would that moderate intensity be??? Could it be long duration cardio?

They won’t tell you that on the sales page, but once you get the product it’s right there in the fine print. To me, that’s no better than the supplement companies that tell you that you can lose weight while you sleep by taking their pill. Then in the small print it says, “For best results you should follow a nutrition and exercise program.”

I’m Not A Hater

I’ve been going on the attack here and it probably appears that I hate all these programs that preach HIIT is the only way to burn fat. Here’s the thing. I don’t hate these programs. I actually enjoy many of them. I just hate the way they market them.

My programs The Fit Chic & The Fit Bastard both include a full year of 10-20 minute express workouts that you perform 4 times per week. I enjoy getting in and out of the gym quickly most of the time. But I would never advertise that you can get 6 pack abs in just 40 minutes per week. That’s false.

In order for me to get 6 pack abs I also added a few days of long duration cardio and a few days of 15 minute HIIT sessions. Then the last 6 weeks I did long duration cardio every day and HIIT every day. It was only for 6 weeks and a 5 1/2 hour commitment to fitness per week during that time was not too much to ask.

Within The Fit Chic & The Fit Bastard program I include both HIIT training and long duration cardio. And I also include longer workouts. Lets face it. There are many people out there who enjoy spending 45-60 minutes working out in the gym. We’re all different. Plus I include muscle building phases which I believe are crucial to your fat loss success.

There you go, there’s my little marketing pitch. But that’s not the point here. The point is that there is no one single solution. The solution is for maximum results you should incorporate a variety of methods of working out. Even more important is doing things that you enjoy and will stick to. It’s really about compliance. We’ll get to that during this article series.

There is way too much for me to cover on this topic to cram into one article. That’s why I’m turning this into a 6 part series. Each day I will be covering different aspects of the HIIT vs long duration debate, including a couple guest articles and an audio interview.

It’s my hope that by the end of the series you will have gained some clarity on the issue and will be able to make an informed decision on what’s best for you.

Have a 6 Pack ABS-soulutely amazing day!

Scott Tousignant

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