High Intensity Interval Training at Home – HIIT at Home

High intensity interval training (HIT) Workouts is the latest form of exercise. Instead of doing one hour per day of exercise, you just need 10 minutes and the HIT exercise benefits are much more than the long drawn out one hour or more of exercise per day. This is not a myth but research after research in leading Universities confirm this as detailed below:

Professor Jamie Timmons, Heriot-Watt University

To quote Professor Jamie Timmons, Heriot-Watt University professor at the School of Life Sciences, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, United Kingdom.

Dr Chris Shaw and Sam Shepherd, University of Birmingham

To quote from the website of The University of Birmingham: “Three minutes of intense exercise, three times a week, is equivalent to five one-hour sessions according to research at the University of Birmingham’s School of Sport and Exercise Sciences, offering hope for people too busy to find the time to work out.”

Lead researcher Sam Shepherd, from the University of Birmingham’s School of Sport and Exercise Sciences comments:

“Although we all know exercise is good for us, the majority of people don’t meet the recommended guidelines of 30-60 minutes per day and the most common reason for this is lack of time....”
“Our previous research shows that repeated 30-second bouts of intense exercise three times per week in 20-minute sessions, elicits the same improvements in physical health and fitness, as performing 60 minutes of moderate exercise five times per week. Therefore, the total time commitment for exercise can be reduced from five hours to only one hour per week, yielding the same health and fitness benefits.”.”

Supervisor, Dr Chris Shaw adds:

“We are now hoping to show the same beneficial effects in an obese population who are more at risk of type 2-diabetes and cardiovascular disease. We hope that this time-efficient way of exercising can mean that even professionals with a hectic life can fit in health-promoting exercise and help challenge the ongoing rise of obesity and associated risk factors.”

Professor Martin Gibala, McMaster University, Ontario, Canada

The Interval Training benefits have also been confirmed by a study into the benefits of “High Intensity Interval Training”, known as HIIT, by McMaster University, Ontario, Canada. The method adopted was running or cycling at almost maximum effort for a minute and then resting for a minute and then repeating the process around 10 times. The details and results of this study was published in the’Journal of Physiology’ and Professor Martin Gibala said the study proved that it was “possible to get more by doing less”. Further to their first research which involved all out effort, the HIT (high-intensity interval training) a new research also published in the ‘Journal of Physiology’ says that a less extreme form of HIT also works. In the new Study, they exercised at about half the effort rather the full maximum effort and the results were as good as that of the all out ‘HIT’. Professor Gibala says “We have shown that interval training does not have to be ‘all-out’ to be effective”.

BBC High Intensity Interval Training (HIT) Comment

Here is another confirmation on the BBC Website: “Short bursts of intense exercise every few days could dramatically cut the risk of Type 2 diabetes and heart disease, according to an expert. Rather than slaving away for hours in the gym, people should focus their attention on quick “sprints” with each workout lasting just a few minutes.
James Timmons, Heriot-Watt University professor of exercise biology has studied the effects of quick exercise. He recommends 4 x 30 second sprints on an exercise bike three times a week. He said people could reduce their risk of diabetes and heart disease substantially with short, intense workouts – with such “time-efficient” exercising appealing to busy workers.”

The fact that short periods of intense exercise or ‘High Intensity Interval Training – HIT’ is better than extended periods of exercise has been proved by research in many countries. According Dr. Alan Sears, author of ‘PACE, the 12 minute Fitness Revolution’ Long-duration exercise isn’t natural. Our ancient ancestors never ran for mile after mile without rest or recovery. Their exercise was primarily hunting with short bursts of exertion, followed by periods of rest. By exercising in short bursts, followed by periods of recovery, you recreate exactly what your body needs for building fitness.”

Modern man’s existance is not more than a few thousand years, before that for millions of years we were living off the land and by hunting

Modern man’s existence is not more than a few thousand years, before that, for millions of years, we were hunters and living off the land. Thus the modern lifestyle exists only for about 1/1000 th (one by a thousandth) of the time of our evolution.

HIIT Exercise for Seniors

The best form of exercise, especially for seniors, is to do HIIT aerobic exercise, like a brisk walk for 30 seconds, then rest or reduce the pace of walk to a leisurely pace, then again a fast walk of 30 seconds and then slow pace for a minute. Repeat this process 7 to 10 times daily. Rather than trying to see the time, it is better to count the number of steps you take. Assuming during a brisk walk you take 2 steps a second, that means 60 steps in 30 seconds. Similarly assume you take 1 step a second for a leisurely walk, you take again 60 steps a minute at a slow pace. So walk fast counting your steps till 60, then slow down and again count to 60 steps of slow walking and repeat this for at least 7 to 10 times per day. If you can Walk, Jog, Run instead of the brisk walk, then that will be great. Interspersed Walk Jog Run is one of the best forms of exercise. Counting your steps also exercises your brain!!

Exercise Bike, Elliptical Trainer or Treadmill

For seniors it is better to have an Exercise Bike or Elliptical Trainer rather than a Treadmill. This is because on an Exercise Bike or on an Elliptical Machine your feet does not leave the pedal of the machine and thus there are no shocks or jerking of your knees and other joints like when you are using a Treadmill. If you are planning to buy a new Elliptical Machine called an Elliptical Trainer or just plain ‘Ellipticals’, make sure that the ‘Stride Length’ of the Elliptical Trainer is at least 18 inches. An Exercise Bike is also a good option, but some people tend to get sore bottoms and sore inner thighs. An elliptical machine has the additional benefit of improving your balance. Both the elliptical Trainer and the exercise bike are good options for seniors.

You must try out the machine before you buy. When trying out the machine make sure that all braking mechanisms of the machine are in the off position and the machine should be at its least resistance mode. Just try out the machine slowly for even just 10 seconds and make sure you are comfortable. Once your machine is at home, do not go all out in the beginning. Use the Interval Training method on the Elliptical Trainer or the exercise bike. First few days try out the machine slowly for 30 seconds or so at the beginning and after that you can start following the High Intensity Interval Training as explained above. High Intensity Interval Training exercise on the elliptical machine or exercise bike should start with you pedaling at your maximum for 10 to 30 seconds, or till you can’t do it anymore, then stop and rest for upto a minute or till you feel OK and repeat this process 7 to 10 times daily. This Interval Training exercise will keep you fit and is as good as your doing an hour of exercise daily.

HIIT Climbing Stairs Exercise, How to Exercise at Home with no Equipment

HIIT Climbing Stairs as exercise involves climbing stairs very fast and resting on top or on the way down and repeating it. This Climbing Stairs HIIT High Intensity Interval Training exercise can be adopted by people in fairly good health. There is no need of any exercise machines for this. You go up one story as fast as you can, then rest upstairs till you get your breath and then get back down slowly and then climb up the stairs as fast as you can and then rest. Repeat this 7 to 10 times and this will be a very effective form of High Intensity Interval Training.

Brown Fat, White Fat and Irisin Hormone

Latest research suggests that while exercising the muscles produce an hormone called ‘IRISIN’. Irisin converts White Fat into Brown Fat. Brown Fat burns calories and gets rid of excess fat in your body. Dr. Spiegelman of Harvard Medical School, injected Irisin Hormone into over weight and diabetic laboratory rats and these rats had improved glucose tolerance and lost weight without any exercise.So be on the look out for the day when you can have Irisin injections or Irisin tablets to lose weight without exercise.

Calories burnt during normal activities

Harward University published in July 2004 a list of the Calories burned in 30 minutes during different activities for people of 3 different weights. From this table we highlight some of the more interesting figures. 30 minutes of walking for example at 4 mph (15 minutes to complete a mile) or 6.5 Kilometers per hour – KmPH (9.23 minutes to complete a Kilometer) someone with a body weight of 125 pounds or 57 Kg. burned 135 calories, someone of 155 pound or 70.5 Kg burned 167 calories and someone of 185 pounds or 84 Kg burned 200 calories. Similarly running or jogging for 30 minutes at speed of 5 MPH or 8 KmPH burned 240, 298 and 355 calories for 125lb / 57Kg, 155lb / 70.5Kg and 185lb / 84Kg individuals respectively. You even spend calories when sleeping, the figures for every 30 minutes of sleeping are 19, 23 and 28 calories for 125lb / 57Kg, 155lb / 70.5Kg and 185lb / 84Kg individuals. While watching TV for 30 minutes the figures are 23, 28 and 33 calories for 125lb / 57Kg, 155lb / 70.5Kg and 185lb / 84Kg individuals and while standing in a line for every 30 minutes the figures are 38, 47 and 56 calories for 125lb / 57Kg, 155lb / 70.5Kg and 185lb / 84Kg individuals.

P.S. :Your Doctor is the best person to advice you on any of what is said here. Please do not do any Exercise without consulting your Doctor.

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