Faster Weight Loss With Fartlek

Fartlek Training

Although it has been proven that long endurance exercise will burn calories and contribute to weight loss, it is has also been scientifically proven that fartlek training is a far more effective form of exercise and can significantly speed up the weight loss process. For those of you who aren't familiar with the term fartlek, fatlek training is the combination of aerobic and anaerobic exercise, incorporating continual bursts of increased intensity and workload. Commonly know as interval training, fartlek training was developed in the 1930's in Sweden. The term 'Fartlek' when translated into English literally means 'Speed Play'. The goal of 'Speed Play', is to condition the utilisation of both aerobic and lactic acid energy systems by elevating and decreasing heart rate from a steady maintainable workload, to higher more demanding intensity level. Lets say you were to go for a 25 minute run. Instead of just maintaining a steady consistent speed for the full duration, you would include bursts of energy and power that would increase your heart rate to a much greater intensity level. The advantage, you would be conditioning both mental and physical resistance to withstand a greater workload by improving both your aerobic and anaerobic capacity. Throughout my experience with various weight loss training techniques, I am convinced that a 25 minute fartlek session is definitely more valuable than a straight out 1 hour session without intensity variation.

As fartlek training demands higher energy levels by utilising more than one energy source, it has the proven ability to speed up and significantly increase your metabolic rate which in turn will lead to faster more effective weight loss. By burning calories above and beyond what you are putting in, your body will then start using its fat stores as a source of energy. The best thing about fartlek training, is that it can be adopted into all of the livethislife authorised aerobic activities including running, swimming, rowing, riding and even walking. Now, although I have highlighted the fact that this is the proven most effective way to aerobically achieve your weight loss goals, it must be performed in conjunction with an appropriate nutrition strategy. The whole concept of exercising to lose weight relies heavily on your ability to use more fuel than you replace, and increase your metabolism to process that fuel faster. For more information on how you can increase your metabolism through smart eating check out my 'Metabolise Me' article.