I think both can be effective for cutting, however it depends on your diet. For low carb, steady state will be less catabolic. However if your carbs are not very low then sprints can be effective form of training as well as being excellent for fitness and speed. It comes down to what works best for you.
Hi Liftcvsmaximvs-
I time my rests, and try to keep my rests to 60 seconds or less each, including the 300’s. I wear a sportwatch that helps me track everything.
I also do one other workout I think you’ll like, I LOVE this workout:
I go to my local soccer field and run 20 sprints, and 20 sets of pull-ups in between each set of sprints.
Set of 8 pull-ups (on the soccer goal post)
Sprint 50m
Set of 5 chin-ups (on the other soccer goal post)
100m sprint (it finishes on a steep hill to the parking lot, takes 18 seconds)
Repeat 10x total.
130 pull-ups total
20 sprints total
around 40 minutes.
[quote]dnlcdstn wrote:
Steady rate cardio burns some fat some glycogen while exercising. Sprints use glycogen. Sprints give you the EPOC effect long after you leave the gym though. Steady rate pretty much just burns fat in the here and now with little to no EPOC.[/quote]
While this kinda gets the point, it’s a bit of an oversimplyfication, if you ask me.
Actually, there’s no such thing as a magic “fat burning pulse” or anything. The limits when it comes to energy consumption aren’t so sharply cut. You will use certain amounts of glycogen when doing steady-state, particularily in the beginning, as you will use up a certain amount of fat when sprinting. What you said is true percentage-wise. When doing steady-state, the highest percentage of energy will come from fat. However, you do sprints at a much higher intensity and expend way more calories, you’ll burn less fat percentage-wise - but maybe, just maybe more in absolute numbers. See where this is going?
Mind you, I’m not saying steady-state is crap. I’m a fighter and use steady-state running as a tool to strip down some weight at a minimal impact on the overall system. Also, steady-state helps you regenerate faster - which definately is something you want to do when sprinting regularly.
As for the original question, the answer is pretty simple : Mix it up.