This blog is in no way a substitute for seeking medical help or attention in the treating of any type of temporary or chronic pain of any kind. Always seek professional medical advice if you feel you have any consistent problem with pain or discomfort.
Years ago I worked as a trainer in a very large corporate fitness environment. I would see the same folks, week after week, month after month and year after year up on the cardio deck. They would be walking the treadmill, or stairclimbing, etc. for hours.
It was the same with the aerobic classes. The same participants year after year, doing classes several times each week. Eventually, unless a person sees some significant results, they wonder why they're spending so much time doing this. Heck, even many of the aerobic instructors who gave several classes each day, were still challenged with losing weight.
As you would expect, a lot of folks stop working out, because they are not 'seeing' a change in their bodies, even though they are getting a health benefit.
It dawned on me at some point that unless the 'intensity' of exercise was sufficient, the benefits of altering the body composition of 'fat vs. muscle' would not be accomplished.
Yes, doing some exercise like low intensity cardio is still beneficial for health benefits like helping to prevent heart conditions, diabetes and other diseases. But the latest science (based on studies at McMaster University, Hamilton Ontario) is saying you can do all that, and not have to spend many hours doing exercise to accomplish it. How? By using 'high intensity interval training'. (HIT)
What does that mean exactly? Let's use the treadmill as an example. What the latest science is saying is this; there is an alternative means to accomplishing all the benefits of using the treadmill (or any exercise device) without having to put in as many hours.
For example, instead of walking at a low intensity pace for 45 minutes 3-4 times each week...an individual can get the same (or more) benefit by changing the workout intensity. The way they would do this would be to increase the pace for one minute, and then bringing it back down to a lower intensity for another minute.
So using the treadmill example, instead of walking at a pace of 3.5 mph for 45 minutes the HIT version might look like this. After a brief 5 minute warm-up, you would up the pace to 4.5 mph and perhaps adjust the incline up to 4.0 for 60 seconds or so. This would raise the 'intensity' level to some degree. Your heart rate would increase, your muscles would have to work harder, and your breathing would increase.
You would then bring it back down to 3.5mph and a 0 incline for 60 seconds. You would repeat this for maybe up to 16-20 minutes...thus cutting your workout time in half or less. Yet the benefit would be the same or better.
This is a practice some of us trainers have known for years, it's nice to finally see science will document this.
As a person's fitness level improves we can simply 'up' the intensity during the HIT portion of the program. So for the 'high intensity' part, you can eventually go ALL OUT for 30-60 seconds...or more. This can be done quite safely on the recumbant or stationary bike (instead of sprinting on the treadmill). Clients of mine who use this approach always get into much better shape and condition.
In fact, it's the approach I use in resistance training. As we see many others in the gym sitting on machines for several minutes with not a lot going on...my clients are 'sweating' and breathing heavy. That's because we're using 'high intensity' in our workouts. My clients typically get more done in 1 hour than most others in the gym would get in 3 hours!
You end up working harder, further improving your heart and circulatory system, your lungs and respitory system, and we of course work very hard on the muscular system of the body. All of that rapidly burns calories and cranks up the metabolism. So on top of all the 'outstanding' health benefits they get...they actually lose inches and sculpt their muscles. That's how you get into REAL shape.
But for the average person who just wants to look and feel better and be healthier...not having enough time is really no longer an excuse. You can use HIT even for 12 minutes or less, and actually accomplish some real health benefits.
As always, train hard...but train smart!
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