Coaches Exercise Tip – High intensity interval training just as effective as long duration low intensity training
I hear the excuse all the time that people just can not find time for the gym, but with Synergy Strength you can get a top quality workout finished in less than an hour. This hour includes the full warm-up and workout as we use high intensity interval training as a tool to develop our members’ elite fitness levels. Many feel it is necessary to pound the streets and roads for hours a week on long slow distance (LSD) runs or bikes (traditional endurance training). Researchers are proving over and over again that this is not necessary with regard to improving fitness level and health status.
Researchers from McMaster University completed a study to find data to support the hypothesis that short term high intensity exercise bouts are equal in benefits to LSD training. Researchers used one min of hard biking on a stationary bike with one min of rest for 10 rounds as the test workout. The researchers found increased capillary density and mitochondrial density in the individuals tested – this means that they had better blood circulation and oxygen supply and usage to the working muscles. The researchers found that the 20 min session of exercise was just as effective as 10 hours of endurance training (steady state training), making the high intensity intervals a much better choice when attempting to improve performance and health as this style of training stimulates the same cellular pathways as does classical endurance training.
Now one can see how Synergy Strengths programming is so effective, as we incorporate a lot of high intensity interval training in our programming to receive the same and arguably higher levels of fitness with less total work completed (although it is much more challenging to complete). We can argue that we receive much higher benefits as we incorporate multiple modalities into our interval training.
Example;
– 4 heavy deadlifts
– 8 burpees
– 45 sec airdyne sprint
– Every 4 min x 7 rounds
The cellular and metabolic pathways are similar with regard to this workout as many others tested on a single modality (bike, treadmill, etc), but with Synergy Strengths model the added benefit of increased potential for power and strength development are achieved. Depending on what phase of the programming we are in the “strength” movement may be adjusted to allow for a different physical trait to be trained, but in the end the same benefits are achieved here as traditional endurance activity with multiple added benefits.
