Regular workouts comprising of various intense exercises with brief recovery periods in between have been observed to be more beneficial to weight loss compared to monotonous jogging or walking.

Researchers have noted in the British Journal of Sports Medicine that a total of 1,115 participants lost weight and body fat with both interval training and moderate-intensity continuous training programs, regardless of starting weight. The interval training sessions lasted an average of 28 minutes in total – alternating four minutes of all-out exercise with three minutes of recovery. The exercise experiments lasted from four to 16 weeks.

However, interval training provided greater weight loss accounts per person, with an average of 1.58 kilograms (3.5 pounds) compared with 1.13 kilograms (2.5 pounds) with continuous moderate-intensity activity.

Senior study author Paulo Gentil of the Federal University of Goias, Brazil has remarked that while interval training promotes higher fat loss, how the body reacts during the hours and days after exercise factors greatly in losing weight.

Dr. Peter Kokkinos of Georgetown University School and the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Washington, D.C., has cautioned that too much exercise can result in serious musculoskeletal injuries, cardiac events, and even death – the risk of such injuries may increase slightly with increased exercise intensities and duration.

The higher risk of interval training may still benefit some people, who can practice interval training once a week, but Keith Diaz, a researcher at Columbia University Medical Center in New York City, recommends following an exercise regime of your own choice to keep the habit.