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Wednesday, April 25, 2012

High Intensity Interval Training for Better Health

Each month we will rotate the focus of  our posts.  In May we will stress health and fitness issues. Here is a preview of the type of post you can expect

It seems like every time I turn around, I see an article on the advantages of interval training, particularly cycling. You know what that is. You go flat out for a given time period, usually a minute or so, then cut back to a relaxed cadence. You've seen those guys at the track, running sprints and then stopping or just slowing to a jog or a trot. What I didn't know was those types of actions can be good for us ordinary exercisers. The New York Times recently reported that as little as a series of one minute intervals of cycling at 90 percent of the person's maximum heart rate followed by a minute of relaxed training repeated just 10 times each could have a significant impact on their fitness. And more, it actually lowered the risk of Type 2 diabetes by regulating the blood sugar. "How 1-Miinute Inervals Can Improve Your Health", February 15, 2012. IIt seems like it is a valuable means of shortening your workouts and reducing the chance of becoming diabetic.

That's not all. The Norwegian University of Science and Technology in January 2010 also reported on a study that showed that persons with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease or COPD improved their oxygen intake up to 20% after several weeks of one legged high intensity cycling sessions. "Cycling to better health, one leg at a time", press release, NTNU, January 20, 2010. Cycling one legged apparently causes the lungs to work harder. I tried to do this just to see how hard it would be and found it impossible to even turn the pedals with only one leg at a time. If you have better luck, let me know.

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