@ Pekka – There are three types of people in this world….those who can count…and those who can’t. Just kidding. I’m not saying that something can’t exist without scientific evidence. I’m just saying that science (as it is right now) is not pointing to strong success with one method or the other.

To me it looks like there are four kinds of people in the training world.

People who don’t giva a crap about studies but just work out hard and eat clean all the time – they are in decent shape.

People who want to do find out the best methods for their workouts and their nutrition – they experiment themselves and if they have clients they try out new stuff with them also. This way finding out what really works. They read studies but only to find out new ideas that they can test out and see in the real world if it really works.

Then there is the pathetic bullshit group that cite a study in everything they do, and if there isn’t something proving 100% that it works they throw it out with the garbage. They also count their sets and won’t go over a certain amount per workout so they won’t accidentally overtrain. Sadly these people seem to be in double digit body fat all the time and weak like my ten months old goddaughter.

Thanks for your review on this subject. Like everything in fitness, including Tabata intervals, thinks get sensationalized and inflated. However, based on the three articles you reviewed, it seems a little premature to come to the conclusion that intervals aren’t effetive for fat loss. It is just too early to come to a conclusion. Obviously, a lot more research needs to be done on various populations, body fat levels, with standardized diets, etc. I think, though, it reinforces the importance of diet in any fat loss program.