Fitness experts have been arguing for years about what’s better; high intensity training, like sprinting, or low intensity training, like jogging. The truth is there’s no clear cut answer, but we’ve teamed up with the scientists at www.myvitamins.com to look at the pros and cons of each so you can decide which one suits you best.

Best for losing fat?

At the Exercise Physiology Laboratory at the University of California it was found that low intensity exercise like jogging or cycling at a slow pace (working at roughly 65% of your maximum heart rate) only ‘mobilised’ fat on the body and didn’t actually ‘oxidise’ it. What this means is that it only ‘prepares’ the fat on the body to be burnt but doesn’t actually burn it. High intensity training on the other hand (training at 85%+ of your maximum heart rate) was found at Laval University in Canada to not only burn more fat compared to low intensity training, but also increased your metabolism for up to 48 hours after you’ve finished training. So put simply if you’re goal is to lose fat, high intensity training is most definitely best.

Best for overall health?

If you want to train to boost your immune system and overall health, research conducted at the University of Toronto, Ontario in Canada could be of particular interest. Scientists found that low to moderate intensity training actually boosted the body’s immune system by improving the number of disease fighting T cells and improving the ‘helper : suppressor cell ratio’. High intensity training however was found to elevate oxygen usage which in turn causes lactic acid build up (the burning session you get in your legs when running hard for a long period of time) which then causes your body to pull alkaline reserves from bones and other mineral dense sources, ultimately it causes something called an ‘immune system crash’ which is where the efficiency of your immune system is reduced and can last for 3 hours or even 72 hours. So if you’re training to improve your health, light to moderate exercise should be your main choice of exercise. But if you are going to do high intensity training of any sort, ensure you replace the vitamins and minerals lost and compromised through taking a multivitamin like Complete Immune from www.myvitamins.com, a scientific blend of vitamins, minerals and anti-oxidants to boost the immune system (£10.99 for 90 tablets.) 

Best for relaxing?

No doubt you’ve experienced that almost euphoric feeling when you’ve come back from a long run or a rigorous session in the gym. This is closely related to the endorphins the body releases during exercises. Endorphins are basically a group of hormones that affect emotion and reduce our perception to pain and when they’re released they basically make the world a brighter, happier place. But studies show that this release of endorphins or ‘runner’s high’ (as endurance athletes call it) only occurs during low intensity cardiovascular training like a leisurely swim and not during a hard weight training or sprint session. Therefore if your goal is to relax, unwind or feel better about yourself, you might want to skip the hard core gym weights and opt for a gentle bike ride in the country or swim a few lengths of your local pool.

For more training tips, vitamin and mineral advice visit twitter: @MyvitaminsUK or www.myvitamins.com