The March 17th issue of Women's Running Update featured "The Most Convenient Efficient Speed Workout". The article detailed how running short intervals at high intensity is an effective way to:
1. Burn calories;
2. Keep your hard-earned fitness while cutting back your time spent running;
3. Increase your running speed.
All in a 30-40 minute workout.
Coincidentally, an article that appears in the April issue of Runner's World corroborates the effectiveness of running short bursts of high intensity intervals in burning calories and weight control. In "Incredible Weight-Loss Myths Exposed!" (whoever dreamt up that title must have graduated at the head of the class in Cosmo Title Writing School), author Matthew Kadey debunks the myth that exercising in the fat-burning zone (50 to 70 percent of your maximum heart rate) is the best way to run for caloric expenditure and weight control.
"When you exercise at this low intensity, your body draws energy from fat. As your heart rate goes up, more energy comes from carbs." So then, why is this not an effective method to burn calories and control weight? Quoting coach Jason Karp: "Running at higher intensities causes you to burn a lower percentage of fat calories in favour of carbs, but you use more total calories." Kadey adds "And that's the key to slimming down. Plus, since you torch more total calories, the absolute amount of fat burned actually increases too. So it pays to pick up the pace."
The article also includes three sample workouts. Although these workouts require a running track or a treadmill and therefore may not be as convenient as the most Convenient Efficient Speed Workout (CESW), all of these workouts will yield the same benefits.
I urge those of you who run every workout at the same pace to incorporate one high intensity run per week into your routine. The CESW (or one of the workouts mentioned in the Runner's World article) will:
Author Resource:-
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