
Originally Posted by
hellomycognomen
Your question perhaps unbeknownst is loaded and contains a contradiction. If I hear you correctly that your goal is to lose belly fat so as to attain a more visible 6 pack then the second workout would IMO be better. This choice is only due to the fact that it incorporates more cardio times, and thus will lead to a greater amount of calories burned. However this is dependent on time so Im assuming the cardio times of the programs are comparable. However the contraction lies in the additional goal of muscle retention. Research supports that muscle fibers have the potential to change and adapt to the stimulus being placed upon them. So doing a lot of low intensity long duration cardio will favor slow twitch and could potentially lead to an overall reduction of the fast twitch fibers, which are the ones most capable of growth. Just compare a distance runner to a sprinter and the difference becomes obvious. Additionally the minimal calories burned by the low intensity long duration cardio can easily be reduced via diet. So its my opinion that for your goal there are far superior options, such as caloric restriction, moderate weight training, and HIIT cardio, with limited use of low intensity long duration cardio.