Northern Ireland Outdoors Forum - Hiking, camping and more
Outdoor Activities => Exercise, Fitness, Training, Competitions and General Health => Topic started by: RedLeader on February 29, 2012
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-17177251
I thought this was an interesting article. Particularly because I've felt a bit frustrated that over the last few years my fitness hasn't really improved at any sort of reasonable rate.
A few relatively short bursts of intense exercise, amounting to only a few minutes a week, can deliver many of the health and fitness benefits of hours of conventional exercise, according to new research, says Dr Michael Mosley. But how much benefit you get from either may well depend on your genes.
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It wouldn't convince me to cut down, but I would add it to my existing regimen.
If this convinces people who are otherwise sedentary to do the HIIT as a minimum - then it's a good thing.
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I recommend reading Body by Science (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Body-Science-Research-Program-Results/dp/0071597174/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1330511775&sr=1-1) to get a good understanding of this.
They look at definitions of 'health' & 'fitness' and separate it out from sport-specific elements like skill & technique. I certainly find a few weeks of tabata sprints really makes a difference, and have done the '15-min gym' workout for a couple of 12-week periods over the past few years (although I found I needed closer to 10days to recover fully, rather than a week).
It certainly gives a good understanding of how your body systems operate and respond, and you can take it from there. Similar elements are covered in "The 4-hour body" and are prevalent in the Cross-fit movement.
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Fartlek is the best way to improve fitness. You can use this method in any form of exercise you do. Running/Biking/Rowing/walking etc
Fartlek, which means "speed play" in Swedish, is a form of interval training which puts stress on the whole aerobic energy system due to the continuous nature of the exercise. The difference between this type of training and continuous training is that the intensity or speed of the exercise varies, meaning that both aerobic and anaerobic systems can be put under stress. It differs from traditional interval training in that it is unstructured; intensity and/or speed can be varied whenever the athlete wishes. Most fartlek sessions last a minimum of 45 minutes and can vary from aerobic walking to anaerobic sprinting. Fartlek training is generally associated with running, but can include almost any kind of exercise
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fartlek
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Fartlek is the best way to improve fitness. You can use this method in any form of exercise you do. Running/Biking/Rowing/walking etc
Fartlek, which means "speed play" in Swedish, is a form of interval training which puts stress on the whole aerobic energy system due to the continuous nature of the exercise. The difference between this type of training and continuous training is that the intensity or speed of the exercise varies, meaning that both aerobic and anaerobic systems can be put under stress. It differs from traditional interval training in that it is unstructured; intensity and/or speed can be varied whenever the athlete wishes. Most fartlek sessions last a minimum of 45 minutes and can vary from aerobic walking to anaerobic sprinting. Fartlek training is generally associated with running, but can include almost any kind of exercise
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fartlek
I have done Fartlek training before, it all most killed me. What we did was running around a football pitch you ran one long side the sprinted the shorter end the walked half the side then jogged the other half then sprant the othe end.
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Too much too soon! It wasn't the method it was the distance you done. That would kill even a fit person.
Cut it down to a 1/4 side walk 1/4 run may seem like little but it soon ads up when you are stopping and going. Then every now and again sprint a short side walk the full long side. Break it up and mix it up.
If you are used to normal training at an hour don't think you will do Fartlek for an hour it won't happen or if it does it will bust you.
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I am talking about 10 years ago when I was very fit. We did about 30 minutes broken into 2 15 sessions.
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I am talking about 10 years ago when I was very fit. We did about 30 minutes broken into 2 15 sessions.
LOL good thing is you can do it any age ;-)
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I would recommend Body by Science too but it may be too much for some.
Chris Highcock, who writes for TGO and has a blog at http://conditioningresearch.blogspot.com/, has a new ebook called Hillfit (http://www.hillfit.com/)
It covers the area that hill walkers often forget about- strength training- with a few simple exercises that can be done at home with no special equipment. He offers a money back guarantee if anyone isn't satisfied too.
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Good call - does seem more appropriate, but similar content!
I must read it sometime, myself.