Interesting News on High Intensity Interval Training

High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) is a type of training that has grown in popularity over the past couple of years, particularly with athletes and more serious gym goers. Rather than sustained exercise over a period of time, HIIT workouts are made up of short burst of exercise at a higher intensity, followed by a period of rest. Research suggests that HIIT programs provide numerous health benefits, some suggesting that it is more beneficial than conventional cardio exercising. Some commonly known benefits include improvements in cardiovascular health and increases in metabolic rate.

HIIT training is not necessarily limited to experienced exercisers. One new study in the journal Diabetologia has suggested that interval training may provide specific benefits for relatively sedentary adults that are pre-diabetic or diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. The study consisted of three cohorts: one that walked 3 minutes at relatively high pace and 3 minutes at a recovery pace for one hour, a group that walked for an hour at a steady pace, and a control group that maintained a sedentary behavior. The completed this program every day for 4 months.

Interestingly, the group participating in the interval training saw a 20% improvement in glucose disposal (the body’s ability to take sugar out of the blood stream to places it as needed). The other two groups did not see any significant improvement.

The effectiveness of interval training relative to steady state cardio is not limited to blood glucose. Other findings have suggested better results in weight loss and lowering cholesterol levels.

Although there is a lot to be understood about why interval training programs seem to be more effective, experts suggest the bursts of energy require a higher demand for glucose and stimulate the allocation of it more effectively.

I would suggest that in addition, interval training for beginners is effective in that it requires people to consider how hard they are actually exercising. It is a way to understand how to get out of your comfort zone for a short period of time and into a work load that will yield results. It is too often that I see people walk at a comfortable pace on the treadmill for an hour without reaching a heart rate that will elicit the results they are expecting. Although they would likely see better results at an increased steady state, many are not comfortably at a higher rate, are not able to sustain it for a long period of time, or simply don’t realize they are not working hard enough. If anything, interval training is a great way to ease a more effective workout without feeling too overwhelmed, and an opportunity to better understand what an adequate work load feels like.

Try it!