Following is an article lifted from a website http://www.kellysfitness.net/

Welcome to Effective Training!
By Kelly Knueppel

Did you know that the classes here at Kelly’s Fitness are designed based on the latest scientific research on fat burning?  If you have
tried one of these classes, you may be surprised by the intensity or you may have become sore from the weight training.  Allow me to
explain what we are doing and how you can successfully work up to it.  

You have heard for years that you need hours and hours of low level aerobic exercise to lose weight.  Thankfully, there is a more
effective way to burn fat and it involves far less time!  “When it comes to exercise, there is a threshold of intensity beyond which the
cascades of growth hormones are released: leading to a “ripple effect” on the metabolism that forces the body to adapt…and become
leaner, faster and stronger.”1  You cross this threshold by training anaerobically, which is more intense than aerobic training. There
are two main ways to do this and we use them both in class.  Interval training refers to a type of cardiovascular workout where you
push very hard, or “burst”, and then recover and repeat rather than plod along at a steady rate.  Resistance training refers to the
many ways that we challenge the muscles to become stronger.  We use weights, bands and bodyweight to do resistance training in
class.  Both intervals and weights produce the “metabolic effect” of post exercise oxygen consumption.  This means that you will burn
calories during the workout and then for hours after!

Several important studies show that groups trained with interval training will lose 9 times more body fat than groups doing lower level
aerobic training for greater amounts of time!2    

Our workouts elicit the metabolic effect through both interval training and through full body weight training.  Not only does training this
way burn fat faster, it turns your body into a fat burning machine because it increases muscle or lean body mass. When you increase
your lean mass, you may eventually need more calories.  Cardio machines show a “fat burning” heart rate zone which is low level in
order to stay aerobic.  This is because you do burn a greater percentage of calories from fat at low levels.  Unfortunately, you must
remain in this zone all day to burn as much actual fat as you would from the after burn of the metabolic effect.  Even more unfortunate
is the loss of lean muscle that you experience from too much aerobic cardio. When you add dieting to working out in that zone; you
really eat away at your muscle so that you need fewer calories to survive.  Interval training preserves and increases lean mass,
ensuring that weight lost is from fat alone.     

Weight training triggers the same effect with even more lasting calorie burn due to an even greater increase in lean muscle mass. “a
weight training program that uses full body movements, short rest periods, and forces both mechanical and metabolic muscle failure
will cause a ripple effect lasting long after exercise has ended…two studies show a 16 hour elevation for women…this is admittedly
hard to swallow when one considers exercisers spend countless hours doing aerobic workouts which are largely ineffective for weight
loss.”3

Study by Wayne L. Wescott, PhD
Walking For 30 Minutes/Day, 3 Days/Week
                                                                                                  Month1     Month2     Month3
Calories Used Per Week During Exercise                                        540        600        660
Calories Used Per Week After Exercise (Aerobic Recovery)              60        80        100
Calories Used Per Week To Maintain New Muscle Tissue                    0        0        0
Calories Used Per Week Total                                                          600        680        760

Resistance Training For 30 Minutes/Day, 3 Days/Week
                                                                                              Month 1       Month2      Month3
Calories Used Per Week During Exercise                                          540        600        660
Calories Used Per Week After Exercise (Anaerobic Recovery)         120        150        180
Calories Used Per Week To Maintain New Muscle Tissue                 245        490        735
Calories Used Per Week Total                                                          905        1240        1575
“As you can see, resistance training burns about the same number of calories as walking over a 30-minute exercise session.
However, due to the anaerobic nature of resistance training, it generates greater calorie utilization during the recovery period
following the exercise session. The biggest benefit of resistance training, however, is the addition of new muscle that requires more
energy all day long. A pound of new muscle uses 30 to 50 calories a day for tissue maintenance, and that really adds up over a
week's time.” 4

Here’s how you can prepare for interval training.  You need an aerobic base that allows you to maintain 30 minutes of cardio at 60%
of your maximum heart rate.5  Once you can do that; you should increase intensity rather than duration.  The weight training will also
prepare your body for the rigors of cardio intervals.  Start with the 5 lb weights but do not stay there.  Listen to your body, take breaks
and give yourself 3 months of 2-3 classes per week keeping the lower heart rate before you enjoy intervals.  If you don’t have a heart
rate monitor, stay at a level where you can still talk.  Intervals, when you are ready for them, take you above where you can still talk.  
The resistance training that we do will make you sore at first.  Bear with it and keep coming.  It should disappear after the next warm
up.  If you feel pain other than muscular soreness, see me.

The best news of all is that these three workouts, Monday, Wednesday and Friday are all you need for a while.  It’s fine to do
additional walking, biking or recreational exercise and it will help, but 2-3 doses of the metabolic effect will give you amazing results!  
There is more to learn regarding nutrition, but that’s another article!

See you in class,
Kelly

1 Crank up your Cardio by Jade A. Teta and Keoni Teta
2 Maximize your Cardio- Go Interval by Lori Incledon (Study by A. Tremblay)
3 Hormonal Weight Loss by Jade and Keoni Teta
4 Wayne L. Wescott, PhD
5 Ask Fernando! By Fernando Peredes ( Philly Fit Oct 06)