HIITing Targets
Stressing our bodies is good, stressing our bodies is the oil to our engines. Stress is the running theme for longevity and I’m not talking about emotional stress, that is harmful; we need to push our bodies physically, almost to the point of shock. Humans have collectively created such a comfortable lifestyle with things like technology and central heating. Short term, this mass level of comfort is fantastic but generally, it’s not good for us mentally or physically.
HIIT training isn’t easy, it isn’t pleasant but if you stick with it, it gets better. In my personal experience, pushing my body to it’s limits and seeing what I am capable of is far more enjoyable than sitting on my bottom all day, fading in to a bleak existence.
High Intensity Intermittent Training is one of the most difficult categories of cardio as it involves switching between intense, high speed exercise to low speed recovery cardio. Not only does this help the mitochondria to use fat for fuel, it also tricks the cells in to thinking they are in a life or death situation. In these life or death situations, the body will use senescent cells as fuel in addition to fat cells, it’s a win win situation.
With basic exercise, the benefits are huge but HIIT pushes these positives even further. To elaborate, circulation is a tremendous issue for the older generations, less blood moving around the body, means less recovery and function for your organs. It’s a downward trajectory from here because once there is less recovery to your muscles and organs, there is less energy to exercise. Blood needs to reach all areas of your body, without this, it’s like operating a car without petrol. By boosting oxygen consumption, the mitochondria can function optimally, the health of your lungs, brain and heart improve which in turn helps you to push yourself even further creating a great momentum of health benefits.
I include at least three sessions of HIIT training per week, I believe this is the bare minimum for reaping the cellular benefits. The amount your mitochondria improves with HIIT, multiplies when you incorporate weight training along side it. I weight train at least 5 days a week, again, I feel like this is the bare minimum, however, if you are doing less than this please don’t be hard on yourself, keep going and try to do more in increments.
My favorite ways to HIIT include:
The power mill machine (stair machine) and ramping the levels low and high in intervals, sprinting and walking up the stairs.
Running and jogging, it’s a classic and one of the most accessible forms of HIIT.
Putting yourself in gym classes specifically designed for interval bursts of intense training. I find doing HIIT in a group pushes me to work out at maximum capacity.
If you would like any more information on this topic or need help to get started on your training, please feel free to write to me, my email address is linked below.
