Intense exercise is by far the best fat burning exercise you can perform, resulting in up to NINE times faster fat loss...and here are a few research studies that show just how powerful it is.

The Research on SHORT, intense workouts:

As mentioned in my previous articles, "slow go" cardio is OLD news and extremely ineffective when compared to short-burst instense exercise, and here are a few of studies to support this that my buddy Alwyn Cosgrove passed along:

Schuenke MD, Mikat RP, McBride JM.

Effect of an acute period of resistance exercise on excess post-exercise oxygen consumption: implications for body mass management.

Eur J Appl Physiol. 2002 Mar;86(5):411-7. Epub 2002 Jan 29.

In this study a 30-minute circuit style resistance training session was put to the test. The result was a 38 hour increase in metabolism and massive AFTERBURN.

Let's put this in perspective: Say that you worked out at 8AM on Friday. By way of short-burst, intense exercise, you'd still be burning calories from that workout while out at the movies on Saturday night.

You want to burn calories by watching Iron Man 3? Now you can.

Here's another:

Kramer, Volek et al.

Influence of exercise training on physiological and performance changes with weight loss in men.

Med. Sci. Sports Exerc., Vol. 31, No. 9, pp. 1320-1329, 1999.

This study showed that those who added short burst intense exercise to a reduced calorie diet burned up to 44% more fat than those who dieted alone.

Don't get me wrong, diet is the NUMBER ONE component of the fat loss puzzle, but once you've got that down, short burst intense workouts can really take your results to a whole new level.

And here's one more:

Bryner RW, Ullrich IH, Sauers J, Donley D, Hornsby G, Kolar M, Yeater R.

Effects of resistance vs. aerobic training combined with an 800 calorie liquid diet on lean body mass and resting metabolic rate.

J Am Coll Nutr. 1999 Apr;18(2):115-21.

This study compared slow-go aerobic exercise to short burst intense resistance training and found that the resistance group lost significantly more fat without losing ANY lean muscle even at an extremely low calorie intake (not so for the aerobic group).

In fact, believe it or not, while the aerobic group experienced a decrease in metabolism (and lost muscle), the resistance training group actually increased overall metabolic rate.

THAT'S the power of short-burst resistance training, and it doesn't require much work at all.

In fact, my buddy Steve Holman from Iron Man Magazine shows you exactly how to put this method to use here: