Weight training causes the body to turn into an anabolic state and significantly contributes to a change in body composition. Weight training is exercising for less than two minutes with great intensity and resting until energy is restored. The cardiovascular equivalent to this would be some sort of high intense, short bout movement followed by rest. This is the way sprinters exercise.

Sprinting creates a perfect hormonal environment for fat loss at rest. Hormones do not function separately. Like people, their effects are altered depending on the environment they are placed in and stressed they are placed under. Sprinting is the modern day physical reaction to fight or flight, which we discussed causes a fat-burning production. Low intense activity, such as sustained cardiovascular activity for an extended period of time, not only misses this hormonal phenomenon but also causes our body to store the fat for fuel instead of using it.

Long duration and lower intensity cardiovascular exercise can create a problem because it causes stress hormones to rise without any impact on growth promoting hormones. This explains why standard aerobic prescription are not as effective for optimal body composition, and why marathon runners are “skinner” than more anaerobic athletes.