They performed three separate trials on different days: (1) they exercised on stationary cycling machines (bicycles) for sixty minutes, followed by a sixty minute recovery period; (2) they worked out on the bikes for thirty minutes, took a twenty minute break, resumed for another thirty minutes on the bicycles, and ended with a sixty minute recovery period; and (3) they rested for sixty minutes without any exercise performed (considered the control trial).

Goto’s team found that there were high levels of free fatty acids and glycerol in their subjects’ blood during the time that the men rested between exercise routines. (Glycerol is a known compound that is released when stored fat is burned in the body.)

Such elevated levels of free fatty acids indicate that stored fat is being metabolized for energy (sometimes called lipolysis, or the breakdown of fat). The stored fat was being used to provide energy rather than carbohydrates. The level was also higher during the second part of the workout after the rest period was over, when compared to the men who did not rest.

According to the ScienceDaily article “Exercise, Exercise, Rest, Repeat -- How A Break Can Help Your Workout”, Goto explains their discovery: "Many people believe prolonged exercise will be optimal in order to reduce body fat, but our study has shown that repetitions of shorter exercise may cause enhancements of fat mobilization and utilization during and after the exercise. These findings will be informative about the design of [future] exercise regimens. Most people are reluctant to perform a single bout of prolonged exercise. The repeated exercise with shorter bouts of exercise will be a great help [in keeping up with fitness]."

The Goto research was written up in the June 2007 issue of the Journal of Applied Physiology (by the American Physiological Society). Goto’s colleagues in the study include Naokata Ishii (from the Department of Life Sciences, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, University of Tokyo, Japan) and Ayuko Mizuno and Kaoru Takamatsu (both from the Institute of Health and Sport Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Japan).

However, the researchers have not yet identified the reason why fat is burned at higher levels for the exercise-rest-exercise routine rather than the exercise-alone routine. Further studies are planned in order to explain these unknowns.

On the other hand, the Goto research does dispute the standard way to maximize the amount of fat that people burn when working out: moderate exercise for forty-five to sixty minutes. Instead, exercise, followed by rest, and followed by more exercise may be a better way to maximize the burning of fat in an exercise program.

If proven true, the Goto method may provide a better way for people to control their weight.


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