Training For Life

Helgerud’s Intense Exercise Program

Sports journals are reporting that intense exercise for shorter duration may be more effective than the standard moderate exercise models. This would mean the old excuse of “I don’t have time to exercise is out the window”. Some people

say you can accomplish a full week of exercise in less than one hour with this plan. These regimens also called interval training were originally developed for Olympic athletics and thought to be too strenuous for normal people.

Jan Helgerud, an exercise expert at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology recommends people try four sessions lasting four minutes each, with three minutes recovery in between. You should be a little out of breath but you shouldn’t have the felling of exhaustion according to Helgerud.

In the United States and Britain officials had recommended about 2 1/2 hours of exercise weekly of moderate exercise which were recommended for a sedentary population and they were intended primarily for weight control. This type of program is not designed for fitness levels, increasing endurance levels or endurance.

Good Effects of Interval Training

The time people spend in the gym could be cut dramatically, but their is concern that the exercise might be too intense for some people. Helgerud states he is more concerned with people not exercising at all, and he further states that the intense exercise is twice as effective. The bulk of the studies that have been completed at this point are mostly on younger, healthy people.

At this time, research has shown those doing interval training can double their endurance, improve their oxygen use and strength by more than 10 per cent, and their speed by at least 5 per cent. Even studies in the elderly and in heart patients found they had better oxygen use and fitness after doing interval training.

They used an example of a London man named Admason Nicholls, a 36 year old Londoner and Martial Arts  enthusiast. He started in interval training to boost his endurance to outlast his sparring opponents. He got into top shape in 6 weeks last year using weekly sessions 45 minute sessions. He estimated that traditional training would have taken 6 months of training.

Experts say this is due to intense bursts of activity which are precisely what the body needs to build stronger muscles. This will then increase your metabolism for several hours afterward, which will burn carbohydrates and fats for a longer period of time,  It seems that the high intensity exercise is the perfect program for many people who don’t have much extra time in their lives and want that burst of extra strength in the short term.

Posted under Cardio, Health