Yes, it’s true: Minutes of intense exercise are superior to hours of moderate intensity exercise. I’m a certified personal trainer, and one study after another shows that the time-saving structure of high intensity interval training produces more benefits to health and fitness than does the traditional, time-sinking structure of long-duration (steady-state) aerobics.
For example, a study out of McMaster University shows that only six minutes a week of intense exercise, are equally effective as 60 minutes of moderate exercise done daily. Martin Gibala, of MU’s department of kinesiology, states: "Short bouts of very intense exercise improved muscle health and performance comparable to several weeks of traditional endurance training "
The report appears in the June 2005 Journal of Applied Physiology. In other words, though the benefits of short bursts of intense exercise over long-duration cardio are no longer new news, relatively few fitness enthusiasts utilize this kind of training; the evidence is clear at any gym or health club, in that few people are ever seen performing high intensity interval training.
The McMaster researchers found that “sprint” intervals bring on significant changes in skeletal endurance and muscle capacity – comparable to exercising hours every week. A “sprint” is a term meaning all-out effort, whether it’s done on a stationary bike, elliptical machine stepper platform, treadmill outdoor track, or even in a pool swimming laps.
Sprints may last 15 seconds to 60 seconds, and rest intervals (casual, easy pace) may last one to four minutes. The entire session can be 20 to 45 minutes. However, just 20 minutes, 2-3 times a week, of high intensity interval training, will produce remarkable changes: namely fat loss and endurance, though many studies have shown other dramatic changes (like speed) that have been confirmed by formal testing.
So why, then, would short bursts of high intensity exercise be so superior to sustained moderate activity of one hour? It seems that nonstop exercise would be superior to just a minute here, a minute there, of exercise, no?
Well, here’s the deal:When you exert yourself all-out (a sprint), chemical changes occur in the body that do not happen when you exert yourself at a moderate level, even if the moderate level is nonstop for 60 minutes. These chemical changes drive up fat loss and resting metabolic rate and create significant improvement in blood vessel integrity, musculoskeletal capabilities and heart function Sex drive, sleep and immune system function are also greatly improved with high intensity interval training.
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