Don’t sweat! U of G study supports moderate / frequent exercise over high intensity intervals

The following story was provided by the University of Guelph news service.

High-intensity interval training (HIIT) has become a big hit lately, but a new study from the University of Guelph reveals that moderate-intensity and more frequent exercise may not be as beneficial to weight loss and blood pressure. ..

Researchers have found that moderate intensity exercise five times a week reduces body fat and improves blood pressure, but these health consequences occur in a three-weekly HIIT program. did not do it.

Recently published Medicine and science in sports and exercise, The study was led by a doctor. Jamie Vardy and Graham Hollowway, professor of human health and nutrition science, and PhD student Heather Petrick.

The study involved 23 adult men who tended to sit and were overweight. They participated in a 6-week exercise bike exercise program. One group ran the HIIT program and the other ran a medium intensity continuous endurance training program (END).

Prior to participants starting exercise therapy, researchers measured their health, body composition and blood pressure. Participants drank a high-fat energy shake to measure fat tolerance, wore a glycemic monitor for a week, and measured glycemic control in a “real world” setting.

The HIIT group trained exercise bikes in the lab three times a week, ran as hard as possible for 30 seconds, took a two-minute break, and then repeated it four to six times.

The END group rode their bikes in the lab five times a week at a comfortable pace that could withstand 30-40 minutes.

In 6 weeks, the HIIT group pedaled a total of less than an hour and the END group recorded a total of 15 hours. After 6 weeks, participants’ post-training levels were measured.

While HIIT training has important health benefits, it seems that there are additional changes that are stimulated by not only intense exercise in a short period of time, but also more consistent and sustained exercise.

“Every exercise is a good exercise, whether it’s fast, furious, rare, or slow, steady and sustainable,” he said. “But compared to rare interval training, moderate daily exercise seems to be more effective in improving blood pressure and controlling glycemic activity.”

Researchers were cyclists and competitive, saying they aimed to look at reducing disease risk when measuring clinically relevant results such as blood pressure, blood sugar, blood lipids, body composition, and aerobic fitness. Said Petrick, a cross-country runner. These factors help predict the risk of illness and death, she added.

“Ultimately, the goal was to determine athletic performance to improve the health and fitness of individuals at risk for diabetes and other illnesses.”

All participants had high risk factors, but she said there was no overt diagnosis of diabetes.

HIIT training has received a lot of attention and variations are widely approved and practiced. This includes short, intense repetitions of near maximum levels of exercise and anaerobic exercise at heart rate. Each interval is followed by a short recovery. The sequence usually lasts less than 30 minutes and usually runs three times a week.

END exercises include endurance activities such as walking, jogging, cycling and lap swimming. Do it 5 times a week for at least 30 minutes at 50-70% of your maximum heart rate.

“Our findings are relevant to all fitness regimens,” Petrick said. “We found that HIIT has positive results such as aerobic fitness, improved glucose tolerance, and gained lean body mass. However, our data show that an important aspect of END is this type of. It may be feasible to perform daily exercise, suggesting that daily exercise is important for maintaining and improving health.

She added that HIIT is gaining popularity due to its time-efficient nature. It tends to fit well with a busy lifestyle. People often cite lack of time as a major obstacle to regular exercise. Studies have shown that doing one minute of HIIT three times a week improves fitness.

“But our data suggest that doing something daily may be most beneficial to your health outcomes. Exercise regularly to continue to stimulate positive change. It seems important to do. “

Researchers have found that optimal fitness prescriptions may include alternating exercise days between END and HIIT to achieve both high-intensity exercise and the time-efficient benefits of HIIT. Said.

“In summary, our data emphasizes the importance of physical activity every day or as many days of the week as available,” Petrick said.