Is the hare or the tortoise better at burning body fat?

The moral of the Aesop fable is that slow and steady wins the race. In recent years though it’s been high-intensity intervals that have won all the accolades. But are intervals more effective when it comes to fat loss?

The focus on high-intensity has been good news to anyone who’s short of time, likes to get their exercise over and done with quickly, or is fond of that kind of activity.

Anyone who’s more of a tortoise than a hare might find intervals a bit gruelling though. And when it comes to controlling blood sugar or reducing blood pressure, activity that’s longer and steadier is still effective.

But the focus on intervals has been a reminder to all of us that it’s healthy to inject some briskness into our efforts if we can.

Now researchers from Brazil and Britain have investigated the research data on both types of exercise to establish which is better for fat loss. In this instance, the longer exercise lasted about 40 minutes and the intervals varied.

They’ve concluded that both moderate and high-intensity exercise help in reducing body fat. (Mind you, making good food choices will help even more.)

So in this case it’s a tie between the hare and tortoise. If you’re exercising with your waistline in mind, they’re both winners.