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Can High-Intensity Interval Training Replace Normal Exercise? Healthy diet and regular exercise are the keys to maintain healthy body so as to prevent heart disease and other chronic medical conditions. That is why officials in the United Kingdom and United States urge people to take about two and a half hours each week of moderate exercise. So far, no agreement has been reached on which type of exercise is best suitable for keeping fit. However, there is definitely no argument that any bout of exercise could prevent hypertension (high blood pressure), lower bad cholesterol level, and hence reduce the risk of heart disease. Most sports sciences experts insist that high-intensity interval training (HIT) is a better choice because intense bursts of exercise can help one’s body convert one type of muscle fiber into another type that uses oxygen more efficiently. Its effect can also last for hours even though interval training only takes a few minutes. When a person exercises at such a high intensity, he or she is going to create a massive disturbance in the muscles. That creates a higher metabolism for several hours afterward, which the body will bring down by burning fat and carbohydrates.
Research has shown that people doing HIT can double their endurance, improve their oxygen use and strength by more than 10 percent, and their speed by at least 5 percent, compared to those who adopt a normal exercise routine such as jogging. Few studies have already found that elderly and heart patients who underwent HIT had better oxygen use and fitness, but most research on HIT published in sports medicine journals have been based on young and healthy adults. A recent study, published in “The Journal of Physiology” in 2010, found HIT as a time-efficient and safe alternative to traditional types of moderate long-term exercise. Scientists at Canada's McMaster University showed that doing 10 one-minute sprints on a standard stationary bike with about one minute of rest in between, 3 times a week, works as well in improving muscle as many hours of conventional long-term biking. They used a standard stationary bicycle and a workload, which was above most people's comfort zone, measured as about 95 percent of maximal heart rate. This might work well for the older, less fit, and slightly overweight people. To achieve the study's equivalent results by endurance training, one would need to complete over 10 hours of continuous moderate bicycling exercise over a 2-week period. While scientists were still unclear why HIT is so effective, they did provide insight into the molecular signals that regulate muscle adaptation to interval training. It appears that HIT stimulates many of the same cellular pathways that are responsible for the beneficial effects associated with endurance training. Meanwhile, most sports experts suggest that more studies are still needed on how older and less fit populations handle this type of exercise before it can be recommended more widely. As such, the scientists from Canada's McMaster University intend, in their future research, to examine whether HIT can bring health benefits to people who are overweight or who have metabolic diseases like diabetes. Originally developed for Olympic athletes, HIT means doing a number of short bursts of intense exercise with short recovery break in between. People can engage in activities such as running, biking, rowing or swimming. General guideline set by sports experts suggests people should work 4 sessions lasting 4 minutes each, with 3 minutes of recovery time in between. Those who always complain “no time to exercise” should find HIT a good alternative since HIT can be tailored for the average adult who do not need more than an average exercise bike. Nevertheless, it is better for people especially those already with prior medical conditions to consult a doctor before embarking in any fitness program.
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