Many people undertake ongoing martial arts and self-defence training to get into shape… often specifically to lose weight (excess body fat) and regain a lean and mean physique. Focus pad training is excellent for fat loss. Here’s why… Not that long ago, the belief was that the best way to lose body fat was through LSD (long slow distance) aerobic exercise. In other words, low intensity exercise that was sustained for at least 20 to 30 minutes. The theory was that during exercise your body uses fat as a fuel source at lower intensity and it burns glucose instead of fat at higher intensity levels. That might be true, but the assumption was that fat loss is based on the amount of calories you burned during your workout. That’s not the case. The amount of calories you burn during your exercises session is minimal. What does matter is the extra calories you burn BETWEEN your workouts. Fat Burning is accomplished more effectively by interval training which involves periods of moderate to high intensity exertion intersperse with low intensity periods to catch your breath and recover your energy in between. This type of training will increase your metabolism for hours after your workout and you will burn more overall calories and body fat. At TMA all of our martial art programmes use interval training as a key component of building fitness and skill level. So what are you waiting for?? Come to class, get a great workout with amazing people and go home, sit on the couch and relax in the knowledge you are still burning calories whilst sitting down!!