high intensity interval training

[Lief, one of our clients' has gone from five insulin shots a day down to one. He has been training with us for about four years. His testimonial is on this page.]

Men in a small study who added short, intense bursts of activity to mini workouts seemed better able to metabolize sugars – from this article The Brief Way to Better Blood Sugar:

Researchers suspect that bursts of intensity during workouts elicit stronger contractions and therefore more glucose uptake in the large muscles attached to bones.

When the men were given the equivalent of a meal's worth of glucose at the end of the study, their bodies metabolized it better than before the study.

From this article The Brief Way to Better Blood Sugar:

Men in a small study who added short, intense bursts of activity to mini workouts seemed better able to metabolize sugars.

When the men were given the equivalent of a meal's worth of glucose at the end of the study, their bodies metabolized it better than before the study.

Researchers suspect that bursts of intensity during workouts elicit stronger contractions and therefore more glucose uptake in the large muscles attached to bones.

The high intensity interval training in this study was performed on exercise bikes. High intensity interval training can also be incorporating into strength training - perform a series of high intensity strength training exercises will little rest between the exercises.

When I first began lifting weights I worked out every other day - Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, Monday, Wednesday, Friday - repeat - and I never missed for five straight months.  The sessions were with a personal trainer, and accurate records were kept.

Soon my progress stopped. I was particularly stuck with bicep curls just barely achieving eight reps each time for five months. Twice during that time I got nine reps on that one exercise; I likened it to a religious experience – achieving beyond the realm of normal.  The workouts during this time were grueling, as I was hell bent on breaking through a plateau.

I went home for Christmas.  It had been more than a week since my last workout when I found a health club with the very same line of equipment I had been using. I thought surely I would be weaker. I was shocked to find that I was stronger. On the bicep curls I got eleven reps, not the usual eight. I had no explanation for it.

From this Science daily article Brief, Intense Exercise Can Benefit The Heart, Study Shows:

"More and more, professional organizations are recommending interval training during rehabilitation from diseases like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, peripheral artery disease and cardiovascular disease. Our research certainly provides evidence that this type of exercise training is as effective as traditional moderate intensity training," says MacDonald. "We wouldn't be surprised to see more rehabilitation programs adopt this method of training since it is often better tolerated in diseased populations".

That’s what my barber told me. He said,” I just don’t understand it”. He has little free time and hates to exercise, but he does strength train once a week. He said, “It is the perfect workout for me; once or twice a week works”.

In order to achieve results strength training you must work the muscles intensely. Muscles adapt and become stronger as a form of self-protection when they are exposed to more demanding work than they are equipped to handle. Demanding work, work intensely, more than they are equipped to handle – who wants to do that? No wonder my barber said what he did, “I just don’t understand it”.

A solution: Instead of seeing how much strength training your body can withstand see what is the least of exercise that will produce the most results. Yes, it will be a difficult workout (You work up to it slowly.), but it will not take long and you need not do it that often.

You can have all the qualities common to professionals (honesty, reliability, etc.) and all the qualities particular to the field of exercise (knowledge and experience in the field). That is often sufficient to be successful, but it might not be enough for the more advanced client or those who want to go to the “next level”. The really good trainers possess the quality of being able to be “in the moment"; this special quality will enable a trainer to take the client to the next level.

The next level? Someone exercising is willing to exercise at a certain level by themselves. That level is less than the absolute maximum they are capable of. A good fitness trainer who is in the moment will get the subject to go to the next level - somewhere above what they are willing to do and closer to what they are truly capable of. As one of my clients once told me, “I pay you to give me a workout I could not possibly get by myself”.

From this article High-intensity exercise better at improving metabolic syndrome risk factors;

From this Science News article, High-Intensity Interval Training Is Time-Efficient and Effective, Study Suggests:

A number often bandied about is that an additional pound of muscle will burn 50 calories a day. What about already existing muscle? Wouldn't that muscle also burn 50 calories a day too? The 50-calorie-a-day number can’t be true if one makes the assumption that the muscle tissue you all ready had before adding that pound of muscle will produce the same calorie burn - i.e.

The positive adaptation as a result of aerobic activity is primarily a bio-chemical change - the body up-regulates its ability to burn sugar for an extended time. The recovery period is short - hence running can be done with greater frequency. The positive adaptation resulting from strength training involves a structural change - the rebuilding of muscle. For most that involves several days to be fully recovered. Think how long it takes an injury to totally heal. Some go back to the gym before being fully recovered and as a result make minimal progress. Some repeat this mistake for years. I was one of them.

Many years ago when I first started strength training I followed the conventional wisdom that stated that you had to give yourself a day off between strength training sessions to let your body recover and become stronger.