This ain't your typical Cardio!
While your standard fare of cardio exercise isn't BAD for you, it certainly isn't going to get you in better shape. I know dozens of people who have run their asses off for dozens of miles and still are overweight. Not only does the treadmill or the jogging trail not help with slowing down aging, in my humble opinion, ITS BORING!
However, there is hope for the anti-cardio crowd like myself. High-Intensity Interval Training or HIIT has been studied and compared across the board for its benefits to the human body. So let's define HIIT.
As Defined by a quick internet search, High-Intensity Inveral Training is a form of exercise in which short periods of extremely demanding physical activity alternate with less-intense recovery periods.
Mayo Clinic Researchers compared the effect of HIIT exercises on patients both young and old, and what they found is that (Prepare yourself, I'm going full-on nerd here!)
The researchers put three cohorts into a 12-week rigorous exercise plan . The plan was three days of cycling (four, 4-minute high-intensity intervals broken up by 3-minute recovery periods), and two days of steady, brisk treadmill walking. The study says:
"At the end of the 12 weeks, all three exercise groups had gained lean muscle and improved aerobic capacity, but those who did high-intensity interval training (HIIT) got the biggest benefit at the cellular level. Younger volunteers experienced a 49% boost in mitochondrial capacity—the cell's ability to take in oxygen and produce energy—while older folks experienced an even more dramatic 69% increase."
Mitochondria and ribosomes are organelles that are important for metabolism and aerobic fitness but tend to deteriorate as people get older. Keeping these structures healthy can reverse some signs of age-related decline within cells, say the researchers"
HIIT mobilizes a powerful army of genes deep within our cells that we don't realize are helping us in the immediate present time, but likely have a delayed or latent effect that will affect the body in very beneficial ways." If you want to read the full study text in the Journal, Cell Metabolism, you can click the link.
If you want to stay young, you gotta HIIT-IT a few days a week. Your very cells will thank you.
My favorite way to HIIT is through Mixed Martial Arts Training.
Again, I'm going to plug LIIFT 4, which I'll be starting another round again in December.
So if you want to get started. CLICK HERE to Sign up and get going!
The best part about this program is how it also incorporates the third key to aging well. That's for the next post!
Thanks for reading and considering!
-Matt