Can you get faster, stronger and in better shape as you get older?
Is age really the limiting factor to what you can achieve physically? I say it isn’t, and I’ve got plenty of reasons and experience to back it up.
In fact, you can achieve things you may not have believed possible well into your 30’s and 40’s, and probably beyond. I know this because I’m still doing it in my late 30’s, and because studies show it’s achievable.
The Age Myth You Sell Yourself
It’s common knowledge, right? We hit our prime in our 20’s and then it’s all downhill physically. Everyone has stories of how fit they were back in the day. How much they used to lift, how fast they used to run.
If you’re one of these people, then I have to ask you.. Why can you no longer do those things? Is it because you got older? Or is it something else?
Regardless of what you may tell yourself, the real answer is that it isn’t a priority for you to do them anymore. Other things have taken precedence. Work, family, hobbies.. Netflix (ok, guilty on that one).
These are all important things, of course. But I’m writing this article to tell you that if you desire to work out harder and push yourself past previous limits, you can. I repeat.. You CAN!
First, I want to highlight 2 critical aspects of continuing to train as you age.
Training and Exercise Reverse Aging and Decrease Risk of Dying.
#1 Exercising as You Age Reverses Aging
A study from the University of Birmingham and King’s College, London, revealed that those who continuously exercise throughout life literally defy the aging process in several ways. The study found that those who continue to train into their 40’s and 50’s and beyond:
Did not lose muscle mass or strength
Had the immune function of a person in their 20’s
Did not increase body fat or cholesterol levels
Maintained testosterone production of a younger person
Maintained or surpassed the aerobic capacity of a younger person
If you’ve been out of the game for a while, Getting yourself back into training could literally help to rewind the biological clock. It’s never too late.
#2 Aerobic Fitness Decreases Risk of Mortality From ALL Causes
A Study looking at over 122,000 patients found that:
“cardiorespiratory fitness was inversely associated with all-cause mortality without an observed upper limit of benefit.”
The Importance of this cannot be overstated. This study found that increasing aerobic fitness lowers a person’s risk of dying from all causes. The study found that there was no upper limit of benefit, meaning that the more you increase your aerobic fitness, the less chance you have of dying, period.
Another study examined declining exercise capacity due to aging and found that:
“By participating in a training program, you can raise your aerobic capacity 15% to 25%, which in our study would be equivalent to being 10-20 years younger.“
Jennifer Warner. WebMD
What Happens as We Get Older
What Studies and Common Beliefs Say
There are some real physiological changes that take place as we get older. I am certainly not denying this. Studies have shown that aging is associated with:
Decreased Muscle Mass
Increased Body Fat
Decreased strength and muscle elasticity
Decreased Aerobic capacity
Decreased Immune Function
Decreased Testosterone
Studies show this to be true.. but studies also frequently look at people who are not vigorously exercising on a consistent basis. Don’t just accept your fate because it’s being sold to you. You can do something about it, and you are capable of much more than you may think.
What Really Happens
What actually happens to most of us as we get older is that our lives become increasingly more stressful. Our careers take over. Kids take over. The demands coming in at us from all angles takes an extraordinary amount of energy, and there is only so much to go around.
The key point to take away is that Stress from any source, be it physical or otherwise, causes a sympathetic response in the body (fight or flight). Stress hormones like Adrenaline and cortisol are released. Our sleep suffers, we become less resilient, and we don’t even realize it happening over time.
This chronic level of stress is what causes a majority of the symptoms we associate with aging. It is imperative that we counterattack this problem somehow, and fitness is a huge part of the answer. You can read the studies for yourself. Learn to manage stress, work out, and recover.. and you will have a powerful new weapon to take with you.
You Can Surpass Previous Limits, Even in Your 30’s and 40’s
As I’ve aged, I have consciously refused to accept that aging alone will reduce what I’m capable of. And, I have yet to disappoint myself. At 38, I’m still pushing past physical limits, and am in far better condition than I was in my 20’s. However, there is a caveat to this:
You have to learn to train smarter. There is some truth to the fact that you were able to recover faster when you were younger. And a huge part of that is that you had far less stress and responsibility when you were younger. You have to accept this, adapt, and overcome.
You have to make your training a high priority. It cannot come last, or only when you have time. There is always time. If I had to get up at 3am to train, I would (and have). You CAN do it! You just need some new habits.
Age is not the limiting factor in what you can achieve physically. The inability to adapt to changes, along with not prioritizing your fitness, is the limiting factor.
Training smarter doesn’t have to be complicated. But it does mean being purposeful in how you go about your workouts and training. Learning to train more intelligently can be the difference that allows you to reach higher levels than you ever have before.
This is really important. In the past, chances are your workouts weren’t optimal. As you get older, you can learn to fine tune things and push even further than you ever have before by being purposeful vs. spinning your wheels.
Ensuring that you prioritize recovery is the real game changer. You can still train hard and with high intensity, but follow those days with a day of low intensity training. This is called the “high-low” method of training, and it can allow you to experience continuous progress without burning out or getting injured.
Training smarter means being aware of the fact that you’re getting older, and implementing proactive strategies to keep injuries away and to keep progress moving forward.
It also means being conscious of all of the stress in your life, and implementing strategies to ensure you are recovering, instead of pushing yourself into the ground.
Focus on improving mobility. In particular, hip and shoulder mobility. Youtube has plenty of great videos on this, and it doesn’t take much time.
Always warm up before every workout. Your warm up should include mobility work and light cardiovascular training.
Always cool down and get some good stretching in after you train.
spend time improving your aerobic fitness. This can be accomplished with low intensity cardiovascular training a few days per week.
Have Specific Goals, and Don’t be Afraid to Aim High
Whatever your fitness goals might be, don’t sell yourself short. You can do just about anything in your 30’s and even into your 40’s. Want to run a marathon? Fight in an MMA bout? Compete in Crossfit? These things are all doable if you really make it a priority and train intelligently. Insert whatever goal you want here ____________. I don’t like limits. They are meant to be CRUSHED! 🙂
Outline what it is you want to achieve, then break it down into smaller goals. Do some research. Become an expert in the details of what you’re trying to accomplish.
Don’t let Anyone Else’s Negativity Influence Your Goals.
I always say, keep your goals to yourself. Other people have a way of passing their beliefs onto us, and you never want to let someone else influence your own personal goals. The seeds of negativity can grow deep roots in our mind. Stay away from negative people, and do the things you know deep down you want to achieve.
Most people sell themselves short. They buy into the collective beliefs that aging is some sort of death sentence. It isn’t. It’s an opportunity. People sell themselves short and are threatened by anyone who might crush the illusion they hold onto. They might try to hold you down by discouraging you. Decide now to make a shield against that negative energy.
Conclusion
If you want something bad enough, you can have it. If you’re out of shape and want to run a 6 minute mile, you can. If you’ve always wanted to achieve something but never dedicated yourself to it before, being a little bit older doesn’t mean you can’t get there. You can get there, and beyond.
Here are a couple other articles that you might enjoy:
I hope this article was helpful, and maybe even inspiring. As always, my aim is to help find that perfect version of ourselves we’re always striving for.
Thanks for Reading!
Mike (SupaStrong)
Bioforce Certified Conditioning Coach and personal trainer. I’ve run boot camps and served as the wellness coordinator for a fortune 500 company. Currently a Federal Agent in San Diego, CA, and an Infantryman in the Army Reserve.
This is a Strength and Conditioning workout I designed for combat athletes. It’s pretty brutal, and will definitely challenge your conditioning.
The Workout
Round 1: 3 minutes as many reps as possible of Man Makers.
Rest 1-3 minutes, depending on your level and how much you like a good kick in the balls.
Round 2: 3 Minutes as many burpees as you can do
Rest 1-3 minutes, depending on your level and how much you like a good kick in the balls.
Round 3: 3 Minutes as many rounds of MMA Drill 1 (see video) as you can do.
Rest 1-3 minutes, depending on your level and how much you like a good kick in the balls.
Round 4: 3 Minutes as many round as you can get of:
10 Push Ups
10 Squats
5 Pull ups (modify if you need to)
What This Workout is Designed to Do
This HIIT session is designed to improve aerobic power (the amount of oxygen you can use) as well as anaerobic capacity.
3 Minutes is a long time to go all out. Just like in a fight, you have to be able to keep going. Doing anything after man makers isn’t fun, especially burpees.
Workouts like this will definitely boost your mental toughness as well. It’s nice to know you can suffer so much and still put out. If you’re looking for more on mental toughness, check out this article
If you try this out, let me know! Thanks for being here, now go get some.
Mike (Supastrong)
Bioforce Certified Conditioning Coach and personal trainer. I’ve run boot camps and served as the wellness coordinator for a fortune 500 company. Currently a Federal Agent in San Diego, CA, and an Infantryman in the Army Reserve.
If you’re reading this post, then congratulations.. you’re looking to improve yourself, and that’s what I’m here for. By following this 6 week beginners running program, you can start running and dramatically improve your fitness and running ability. You won’t be winning marathons, but you’ll be noticeably better and more fit. So are you in? Let’s do this!
You can skip straight to the actual running program if you want, but I highly recommend taking the time to read the article. You have a goal, and you landed here.. so soak it all up if you have the time.
Who am I To Write a Beginners Running Program?
I don’t usually feel it’s necessary to add a section like this.. but, when it comes to taking advice on anything fitness related.. I think I’d want to know who I’m taking the advice from. My Author Bio is at the bottom, so feel free to check it out.
Now let’s get on to more interesting topics…
Why This Program is Better Than Others
There are many ways to reach a goal, and many different approaches to start running. When I searched on Pinterest and google for “beginner running program,” I found a bunch of programs using nothing but intervals.
Every program I saw was: Day one, run 4 minutes, walk 2 minutes, repeat 5 times. Day two, run 5 minutes, walk 2 minutes, repeat 5 times…
This approach can work to some degree, but it is one dimensional and not a well thought out program. This program will build your aerobic power and capacity, strength, and endurance. It will improve your fitness on a much broader scale, using different methods and building you up over a 6 week period.
Common Mistakes New Runners Make When They Start Running
First things first, let’s discuss a few common mistakes people make when they start out with a new goal of starting to run. It usually looks something like this:
First, they think about starting for a long time. Then they finally get out there and start running. Having no program or strategy, they try to run too much, and end up either giving up, burning out, or getting injured. Or, they forget their orginal motivation and lose the desire.
The most common mistakes I’ve seen
Running too frequently: You have to build up to higher volumes of any physical activity so your body can adapt to it. More is NOT better.
Doing the same thing every time you work out: Variety is necessary to improve your aerobic fitness and work capacity. Repetitive stress injuries are a real thing.
Not having enough desire, or having unclear goals.. They go hard for a couple weeks, then fizzle out.
Trying to do too much, and losing motivation when they see no progress: Progress = Motivation. Read that again.. small goals are achievable and add up to big goals. You don’t get from A to B overnight. Seeing progress is the most motivating thing that can happen. This running program is built around that concept.
3 Things To Do Before You Start Running
Write down your “Why.” In one sentence.. Why do you want to start running? Having a why can be the difference between quitting and winning.
Have you failed in the past? Why? Write down what you’ll do this time when you are in that same situation.
Commit to finishing the 6 weeks. Finish what you start, no matter what.
Here is your 6 week beginners running program. There are a few terms you might want to get familiar with. Nothing too complicated.
Terms
Long Slow Distance (LSD): An easy run or cardio session. You should be able to carry a conversation. If you cannot run for 20 minutes, then walk fast. You can also use any cardio machine.. elliptical, stair climber..etc..
Continuous High Intensity: Run for the prescribed time at as fast a pace as you can maintain for the whole time (8 minutes for week 1).
Max Reps: As many as you can do with good form. If you can’t do a push up, do them elevated.. like on a table or a bench.
Intervals: Periods of higher intensity followed by periods of low intensity. Basically, sprinting then walking. When walking, focus on breathing and recovering. When sprinting, work as hard as you can. The biggest improvements will come from these sessions.
Rest: Relax, go for a walk, light stretching.. no training.
Week 1: Start Running
Week 1 starts off with a test. Go out and run a mile and a half and see how long it takes. Don’t stress about it. If it’s slow, that’s fine. If you have to walk part of it, that’s fine too. Just get it done, record the time, and take a victory for the day.
**Tip: Save these pictures so you can easily pull them up and know exactly what you’ll need to do each day. This is why I chose to use this format, and I hope it is helpful.
Week 2: Getting in the Zone
Hope you’re rested from the weekend. Remember your Why. Each training day completed is a small victory. Do your best, and don’t worry about your performance.. as long as you’re putting in effort, it’s a victory. You’ll notice We’re adding just a little bit each week. That’s called progression.
We’re introducing intervals in Week 2. Just run fast for 30 seconds, then walk for 60 seconds. Keep moving.
Week 3: Movin on Up
More of the same. Push on, have fun. Have faith. Your fitness is improving and you’re almost halfway through the program.
Week 4: The Crucible
I’m calling week 4 the crucible because this is around the time a lot of people quit. They get sidetracked, make excuses or forget their original motivation. Don’t be that person. Finish what you started. This is the last week before we move to 4 training days/week. Remember your Why!
Notice the intervals have changed to 60 second sprints with 120 seconds walking.
Week 5: Almost There
2 weeks left in the program. We will now begin training 4 days per week. Adding an additional day is a big step in a program. You can reap more benefits from the additional training, and can do so without running yourself into the ground… because you’ve earned the work capacity.
Week 6: The Home Stretch
Your final week. If you made it here, I salute you. I get goosebumps when people have the discipline and heart to see things through. The last week will be the hardest, but you should be ready for it by now.
What’s Next?
If you finished this 6 week program, I have no doubt that you’ve made some big improvements to your overall fitness and in your running ability. After a good weekend of rest, Retest yourself in the 1.5 mile run.
The next thing you MUST do is let me know the results!
If you’d like to learn more about training and fitness, I have a few articles that I think would benefit you a lot: I love the science of strength and conditioning and how the body adapts and improves.. it’s all really amazing.
I hope you enjoyed this article. If you did, I’d love to hear about it. Follow this blog and I can promise I’ll do my best to get you quality content that can help you continue to improve your fitness and get to that best version of you!
Thanks for being here!
SupaStrong
Bioforce Certified Conditioning Coach, personal trainer and formerly an NSCA Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist. I’ve run boot camps and served as the wellness coordinator for a fortune 500 company. Currently a Federal Agent in San Diego, CA, and an Infantryman in the Army Reserve.
Workout Recovery is a cutting edge niche in the world of fitness right now. Learning how to recover faster from your workouts can be a huge game-changer for your progress in the gym.
Learning how to speed up workout recovery time can mean bigger gains and increased fitness levels over time.
Here is a list of 10 ways you can boost your workout recovery abilities and take your training to the next level.
Note: This article contains affiliate links to products I believe in and use. They come at no additional cost to you.
#1 Plan Workout Recovery Sessions into Your Weekly Split
In my article on Recovery Training, I explained how to implement this method for faster workout recovery. Check it out if you want a more detailed look.
Basically, recovery training entails utilizing low intensity cardiovascular exercise and low volume strength movements, along with foam rolling and stretching.
These sessions should take place the day after a high intensity training day. The lower intensity session pushes blood flow into damaged muscles and other tissues. As a result, the tissues recover faster.
The goal of a recovery workout is to stimulate recovery without incurring any additional stress on the body to have to recover from. Keep the lifting to a few sets of 5-8 reps at around 80% of your max.
End the session with 5 minutes of very light cardio and a good 10 minutes of relaxing stretching and foam rolling. Go home feeling good!
The High-Low Method
The High-Low Method is an excellent way to set up your training, regardless of what your goals might be. It’s pretty simple.. You do a high intensity training day at the gym and follow it up the next day with a low intensity workout. This can speed up your workout recovery and help you improve faster.
#2 Pre Workout Nutrition Can Help You Recover Faster
While most people focus on post-workout nutrition, little thought is often given to what we put into our bodies before we work out.
However, the absence of amino acids and carbohydrate in the body during intense exercise can put the body into a deeper state of stress. This will cause you to accumulate more recovery debt and will take longer to enter a parasympathetic recovery state.
According to one study, consuming protein and carbohydrate before your workout can be more effective at building muscle than eating it afterwards.
Having a high protein meal within 1-2 hours of your workout can help the body maintain muscle tissue during intense training. The amino acid levels in your blood will peak around 90 minutes after you eat, so eating 1-2 hours before you work out will leave you in a great physiological state for building muscle and speeding up recovery.
#3 Wear Compression Clothing
Studies have shown that wearing Compression clothing can enhance workout recovery to damaged muscle tissue and reduce muscle soreness after working out.
One study in the Journal of Sports Medicine found that compression garments are effective at enhancing workout recovery from muscle damage.
Compression garments promote blood flow and oxygenation of muscle tissue during and after exercise. They can also improve kinesthetic sense: basically our sense of body awareness and movement through space.
For true compression, a higher grade fabric is necessary. 2XU Compression Pants are definitely the best brand if you want real compression and are willing to pay about $100 (well worth it in my opinion). I own 3 pair and do notice a big difference in both performance and recovery.
Everyone knows massages are relaxing.. but do they really help us recover faster?
According to a 2018 study in Frontiers of Physiology, massage was found to be the most powerful method for recovering from Delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) and fatigue.
Massage Therapy can push us into a deep state of relaxation, inducing a parasympathetic recovery state in the body. Deep tissue massage also helps promote blood flow into deep muscle tissue, helping the body clear out metabolites left over from previous workouts. The result is faster workout recovery.
Massage can get expensive, but there are other options, like a deep tissue massage gun, that may offer the same benefit anytime you want.
#5 Cold Treatment and Cryotherapy
The ancient Egyptians used ice to treat injuries over 4,000 years ago. We still do it today, but we’ve developed some pretty interesting new methods. Enter cryotherapy.
Cryotherapy has become mainstream in recent years, with clinics popping up in every major city.
It’s well established that using cold therapy can reduce inflammation, and current research says that cryotherapy can do the same thing.. in the whole body.
It’s hard to train with a sore body, and so reducing some of that inflammation can lead to improved workout recovery and your ability to train harder. The only way to know if it works for you is to try it for yourself.
#6 Get More Sleep
We all know that sleep is important for workout recovery.. but are you aware of just how important it really is? Getting more sleep (at least 8 hours) can:
Increase Growth Hormone production
Increase Testosterone levels
Decrease injury risk
Decrease perceived exertion/fatigue during your workouts
Numerous studies show that getting better sleep can improve recovery from exercise. If you’re researching how to recover faster from your workouts, getting enough sleep should be #1 on your to-do list.
According to Sleep.org, sleep is vital for helping the body retain improvements in body movements, muscle repair and muscle growth. All of which lead to improved performance.
Tips on Getting Better Sleep
These are some things that have worked for me and I highly recommend.
Stop using your phone an hour before bedtime. Stop watching the TV. Do something else, read, listen to music or take a shower and relax.
Make sure your room is as dark as possible. Blackout shades work wonders.
Studies have shown that a temperature between 66-68 degrees are optimal for falling asleep faster and sleeping deeper.
White noise, such as from a fan, can help the brain fall into a deeper sleep, faster.
Get new pillows, or even a new bed if you don’t feel comfortable. You spend a third of your life there.. why not invest in your sleep?
Heart Rate Variability (HRV) refers to the small time intervals between heart beats, measured in milliseconds. With a simple heart rate monitor like the Polar H10, and a free app on your phone, you can take an HRV measurement when you wake up in the morning in about 3 minutes.
HRV gives you a snapshot into your body’s current state. It can tell you how you’re responding to stress, and is essentially a measure of how stressed your body is. High HRV means you are resilient, and properly recovering from stress.
With HRV, you can track how well you’re recovering from your workouts and from all the stress you encounter in your daily life. Free apps like Elite HRV will give you a “readiness score,” which can help you know if you’re recovering or not, and can help you know how hard to train and when to back off.
HRV is being used by elite athletes, and is a simple and affordable way for you to gain vast insight into your health and fitness.
#8 HIIT Can Hurt Your Workout Recovery.
HIIT, or high intensity interval training, has become one of the most popular workout methods available. The problem is that too often, we rely on higher intensity training, which can have a lot of negative consequences.
More is NOT always better.. and it’s not correct that training harder is always going to make you better…
Working out at high intensities: Max effort and any conditioning where you’re training at a heart rate of greater than 90% of your max HR, are very stressful on the body. This stress causes a flood of catabolic hormones to be released, and puts a strain on your body’s recovery ability.
Repeating these workouts frequently causes a recovery debt to accumulate. Eventually it will reach a point where something will give.
Systems like the immune system will suffer, and injury risk becomes greater. The most likely scenario is that you’ll burn yourself out and progress will go backwards.
Studies have shown that 2 days per week of high intensity training is optimal for all but the most elite athletes. Plan your training carefully and be sure to manage high intensity training with a healthy respect for it’s power.
You can only benefit from what you can recover from. Recovery = Adaptation. And adaptation is the real purpose for working out in the first place.
#9 Use Supplements That Help Your Body Recover
Using the right supplements can definitely help you recover faster from your workouts. They can help reduce soreness and allow you to train more frequently, leading to bigger gains over time.
An article by Precision Nutrition looked at 2 studies examining the effects of Vitamins C and E on workout recovery. The studies found that after three days without supplementation, free radicals had more than doubled.
Free radicals are chemicals that damage our cells and cause inflammation in the body. After 3 days of working out AND supplementing with Vitamins C and E, free radicals didn’t increase at all!
Which Supplements Help us Recover Faster?
Using the right supplements can definitely help you recover faster and be less sore from your workouts. The following list is a good place to start for supplements that actually have plenty of research showing they work:
Creatine: increase lean mass, speed up glycogen resynthesis and speed up protein synthesis. Creatine has also been shown to improve cognitive function, as it is stored both in muscle tissue and in the brain.
Tart Cherry Juice/Turmeric: Both potent antioxidants, they can reduce inflammation.. causing less soreness from training and faster recovery of muscle damaged muscle tissues. Use only after higher intensity days so you don’t hurt your body’s own natural abilities.
BCAA’s: Help your body spare muscle tissue while you work out. Can make fatigue take longer to set in, and can help the body recover faster after your workout.
Protein Supplementation: Additional protein can help keep the body in an anabolic state, repairing and building muscle throughout the day and while you sleep.
I prefer to get my supplements from Bulk Supplements. It’s cheaper, you get more, and the supplements are pure, with no added fillers or harmful chemicals.
#10 Use a Cool-Down After Every Workout to Recover Faster
Especially after higher intensity sessions, your body is ramped up and in a sympathetic, stress-driven state. While this may feel good, it is not conducive to recovery. Take a few minutes after every workout to perform a proper cool-down to help push your body into a faster recovery state.
Perform 5 minutes of low intensity cardiovascular exercise
Perform light, relaxing stretching. Use foam rolling if you have the time and the means.
Assume a relaxing pose, such as the child’s pose in Yoga
Breathe and relax. Try to force your heart rate down as low as possible
A cool down can help you get into a recovery mode faster, leading to faster recovery before your next workout. These small differences each time you work out can have big effects over time. Don’t walk out of the gym amped up. The workout is over, and now it’s time to refuel and recover.
Conclusion
The art of workout recovery should be important to anyone seeking to improve their physical abilities. The faster you can recover from your workouts, the sooner you can get back in the gym and actually reap the benefits of your efforts.
Implement these 10 strategies and you will have given yourself a huge boost, and will no doubt reap many benefits for a long time to come. Recover faster from your workouts and get to the next level of you!
Mike (Supastrong)
Bioforce Certified Conditioning Coach and personal trainer. I’ve run boot camps and served as the wellness coordinator for a fortune 500 company. Currently a Federal Agent in San Diego, CA, and an Infantryman in the Army Reserve.
Is HIIT harmful? Can it damage your health and fitness? It all depends how you use it…
Snapshot:
High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) has become a popular training method for squeezing in a workout in a small amount of time.
Failure to balance high and low intensity training methods can hurt your fitness and your health. HIIT is a powerful tool to be respected.
HIIT, performed properly, can improve several markers of fitness, both aerobic and anaerobic, heart rate recovery and peak power output. (1)
High Intensity Training has infiltrated almost every corner of the fitness landscape. But is HIIT actually improving, or sabotaging your health and fitness level?
What is HIIT?
High Intensity Interval Training refers to any workout in which you are:
Working out at greater than 90% of your max heart rate
Using maximum-intensity periods of work followed by rest periods
Examples: Interval Sprints, High Intensity Circuits done for 3 minutes with a short rest period between sets.
The Allure of HIIT
HIIT is the preferred method of many with limited time to work out. The rationale is, you can squeeze a quick HIIT workout in 20 minutes and get the same benefit as an hour of a normal workout. For the majority of us with crazy busy lives, HIIT offers a convenient solution.
Many also believe that performing such high intensity training simply must be more beneficial. After all, it’s harder and requires you to really push yourself when compared to an hour of lower intensity training. It’s the widely accepted misconception that more is better.
The Problem
Too much HIIT causes a massive recovery debt and chronic stress-state
I hate to be the one to kill a good vibe.. but I feel like it’s my duty to expose this problem so you can hopefully have a better understanding of what you’re actually doing in the gym and to your body and mind.
First off, I have to be clear that I’m not saying that HIIT training is “Bad.” There are actually plenty of studies that show some really amazing results, and I’ll cover that later. But….
To understand the problem with too much HIIT training, you have to understand a few things about your body and how it responds to stress:
Stress, from anything.. be it work stress, being stuck in traffic, relationship stress, or really intense physical demands.. is registered by the body in a similar way.
The sympathetic nervous system (fight or flight) is activated in response to stress, dumping stress hormones like adrenaline and cortisol, into the body.
Keeping your body in a state of constant, chronic stress is the opposite of promoting health and fitness. The body cannot recover, build muscle or improve any markers of fitness when it is in a chronic state of stress.
The main take-away here is that HIIT training is INTENSE… and it takes your body a lot longer than you think to actually fully recover from it. A really high intensity trainings session can take several days to recover from.
What You’re doing to Your Body
use both forms of training for optimal fitness gains
Overdosing yourself with too much high intensity training is causing you to accumulate an ever increasing recovery debt. Your body is never fully recovered, and is being forced back into a sympathetic, stress dominant state over and over. Sooner or later, something will give.
The massive amounts of energy being demanded by constant stress will be recruited from other areas.. your immune system, your cognitive function.. and a host of other functions you probably don’t want to mess with. The end result is a reduction in actual fitness and health.
New Research into HIIT and Overtraining
A new study by Les Mills Lab found that 40 minutes a week of HIIT training was optimal for most people. Beyond this amount of high intensity training, most people will not reap additional benefits and will in fact become more fatigued. Read about the study by Les Mills here.
How Much HIIT is Optimal?
The answer to this question depends on your current level of fitness and the nature of the training. Remember that HIIT refers to training at maximum intensity (at least 90% of max heart rate).
For 90% of people out there, there is absolutely no need for more than 2 true high intensity training days per week. Elite athletes rarely ever go beyond 3 days per week, and even then it is only for a short time.
So how much is optimal? Well, if you’re in pretty good shape, 2 days per week would be optimal. If you’re out of shape, 1-2 days per week is where I’d recommend starting. If you feel like you’re in great shape, you can utilize HIIT up to 3 times per week, but definitely keep an eye on your fatigue, and if you’re that serious about your fitness, you can use things like heart rate variability to check in on your body and see if it’s being overstressed.
Now that I’ve sufficiently killed the HIIT vibe, let me backpedal a bit.. To be clear, HIIT is not a bad thing. It is actually a well researched, highly productive form of training.. Studies have shown that you can improve aerobic and anaerobic conditioning, get leaner and stronger utilizing high intensity interval training.
A 2017 study by Frontiers in Physiology found that high intensity interval training was superior to lower intensity training, showing improved:
Anaerobic power
Heart rate recovery
Neuromuscular status (peak power)
Conclusion
So what are we to make of all this? HIIT can cause big improvements in fitness, but can also damage fitness.. what do we do?
Balance is always the key to growth
Knowledge really is power. HIIT is a powerful tool in your arsenal, with the capacity to dramatically improve your conditioning and fitness. But it is to be respected…
Your training week should include a lower intensity training day for each high intensity day. This way you can reap the benefits of both types of training, without putting your body in a constant state of stress. Lower intensity training promotes recovery and parasympathetic function.
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