FITNESS
“To bring HIT into a gym, we need to make it fun so people continue to do it, thereby gaining a cumulative effect”
repetitions, load, type of exercise, order of exercises, number of exercises, rest interval, work interval and density. “It’s important that a common vocabulary
be established within the fitness industry, otherwise we’ll end up with fancy marketing names for programmes that have actually existed for over 40 years – and in some cases, where the roots are over 100 years old.”
BENEFITS OF HIT But if precise terminology and parameters are still to be decided, there does seem to be broad agreement on the benefits of HIT. “Research shows that HIT delivers results
that surpass conventional, steady-state training,” says Bryce Hastings, technical consultant for group exercise company Les Mills International (see sb08/3 p100).
“Tese include accelerated aerobic condition- ing, getting you fitter faster; an improved anaerobic threshold, letting you go harder for longer; improved insulin resistance and growth hormone changes, with enhanced hormonal responses; and the generation of athletic, powerful muscle, giving you the tone you dream about.” Huntington adds: “Interval training has
the potential to burn more calories than con- ventional aerobic/strength training and is an effective means of improving strength/mus- cular endurance. In addition, it has always delivered faster results. However, all this is at the potential expense of injury and endo- crine burnout. It takes a while to adapt to such workouts, and in most cases adherence is less time than the required time to adapta- tion. If we’re to bring it into the gym, we need to make it fun so people will continue to do it, thereby gaining a cumulative effect.” Tere’s also an argument that a HIT circuit
may not deliver optimum results. Hunt- ington continues: “In the late 80s and early 90s, Keiser developed the XPress Circuit for time-conscious, non-elite members. Tis was done in the full knowledge that circuit training will always compromise the true effectiveness of the five S’s – strength, speed,
In several studies, HIT produced 5-10 per cent greater increases in VO2 max LITERATURE REVIEW
AUT University’s review of 45 published journal articles, carried out on behalf of Les Mills, focused on 24 papers that com- pared HIT with steady-state moderate intensity exercise. Te authors focused on moderately trained recreational athletes through to those with general metabolic syndrome (including obesity and hyper- tension) as more representative of the general population. Te training studies ranged from two to 20 weeks, with typi- cally three to five sessions a week. Some studies used supra-maximal
intensity (up to a reported 170 per cent of VO2 max). But most used ‘work’ phases of around 90 per cent VO2 max – also described as 15-17 out of 20 on a self-rating scale of perceived exertion (hard to very hard). Sessions generally lasted around 40 minutes, including work and recovery phases: work phases were typically 30 sec- onds to two minutes; with recovery mostly one to four minutes of light to moderate exercise (70 per cent HR max). In several studies HIT produced 5-10
per cent greater increases in VO2 max, oſten in less time. In some cases even
skill, stamina, suppleness – when they’re not done as discreet parts of a programme. Does this make HIT or circuit training bad? Abso- lutely not. It just means that the best results you can get will be less than the best result you could achieve by focusing on any one of the five S’s individually.”
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greater differences were observed. Where the steady state group did experience sig- nificantly greater increases in VO2 max
“it was patently owing to very big differ- ences in training volume”. In all cases, HIT produced greater
improvements in anaerobic fitness, insu- lin sensitivity, endothelin function and body fat levels, with significantly greater reductions also observed in systolic and diastolic pressure in several studies. Although oſten anecdotally quoted as a
benefit of HIT, only one study specifically examined EPOC (excess post-exercise oxygen consumption) and found no significant difference compared with steady-state moderate intensity exercise. Several of the papers commented anec-
dotally that subjects typically reported their enjoyment of interval-style training more than steady-state training, leading to good adherence. Te authors of the review found no
evidence that repeat high intensity exer- cise bouts had a harmful effect on any of the populations. Tey also found no evi- dence that exercise intensity alone has a negative effect on resting hormone lev- els (testosterone, cortisol etc).
For non-elite athletes, however, the ben-
efits will already be very compelling. Not only that, but the AUT University/Les Mills review paper highlights benefits for a far more diverse range of exercisers than might have been expected. Gym-based use of HIT could, it seems, have a broad appeal. l
SPA BUSINESS 4 2012 ©Cybertrek 2012
©LES MILLS INTERNATIONAL
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