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A good question and one which confuses many people as both types of exercise still help you burn body fat. But which is best?

During intensive exercise your body burns glycogen which is basically stored carbohydrates. Glycogen is normally stored in your muscles and in your liver. With low intensity exercise your body burns large amounts of fat. In fact scientists would claim that your body burns more fat during low intensity exercises such as walking or swimming.

So why is everyone advocating high intensity exercise?

Apparently high intensity exercise has some unique advantages. Initially during high-intensity exercise the body burns a lot of calories, mostly calories from glycogen and fewer from fat. However following high-intensity exercise your body will continue to burn calories for some hours afterwards, which will be nearly all fat.

But here’s the best bit. The next time you eat, some of the carbohydrates are used to replenish your energy store of glycogen and do not get converted into fat. You don’t get these continuing after results with low intensity exercise.

You can incorporate high-intensity exercise into your normal low intensity routines quite simply. For example you can alternate walking and jogging every five minutes, and then walk until you’ve regained your breath. Then sprint for a minute and walk again until you catch your breath. You can do this in a couple of times until you finish your exercise.

Advocates of high-intensity exercise say they feel they have more energy in general after recovery. So if you have never tried combining high and low intensity exercise maybe is something you should look into, but be careful if you’re just starting out, go slow and don’t over exert yourself.