Total Health Breakthroughs: Free Natural Health Newsletter and Alternative Health Articles

Exercising daily has become the mantra for good health. While studies show that any amount of physical activity you get will be of benefit to your health, the research is also clear that the more you exercise, the greater the health benefits (as long as you have no signs of overtraining). Exercise not only lowers your disease risks, it improves your quality of life as you age.

But did you know that exercise can add years to our life as well? In studying people who live longer, exercise has been the only lifestyle factor that is consistently associated with living longer. Recent studies have shown that interval training in particular can decrease your biological age by 10 years1 — in effect adding 10 years to your life!

With interval training, the intensity of the exercise becomes high enough to significantly increase the oxygen demands of the muscles, which in turn slows aging. Interval training is also a highly efficient workout, meaning you can great results in shorter periods of time. So for any of you who haven’t yet tried interval training, I thought I would get you acquainted with what it is and how to do it.

Interval training consists of short bursts of intense exercise followed by brief periods of active recovery. To increase the heart rate during the intense phases, you must manipulate one or more variables such as speed, incline, resistance or impact. Running on a treadmill at a fast pace followed by brief periods of a much slower speed is one way to interval train. Another way to interval using the treadmill is to walk or run on an incline for a given amount of time followed by brief periods of walking or running on a flat surface. The incline changes the mechanics of movement increasing the intensity of the workout.2

You can also increase the intensity by adding weight; this makes the muscles work harder to move your skeleton. This variable can be easily manipulated on cardiovascular machines like the treadmill and elliptical or while executing a single exercise by incorporating added weight.

Plyometrics (or explosive movements) such as leaping, hopping or jumping are very effective in adding intensity as well. These movements get the heart rate up and can be alternated with any lower intensity movement such as slow walking or stepping in place.

Keep it simple by changing one variable at a time. It makes no difference to the body which variable changes, as long as the muscles work harder, oxygen demands increase and the heart rate goes up. And consider your current fitness level. To avoid injury, do not increase weight or speed for example, any higher than is needed to get the heart rate up. Slowly increase the variable as you become more fit.

If you think you are ready to incorporate interval training into your workouts, the final consideration is the actual time spent in the “high intensity” interval versus the recovery time. The goal is to sustain “high intensity” for 30 seconds to one minute allowing heart rates to climb to high levels.

The recovery time is then proportional to the intensity and length of the “high intensity” phase. I have found 30 seconds of “all-out” intensity followed by 15 seconds recovery is not only very challenging but clients tend to work harder overall. Sticking to exact time increments is not as important as the alternating intensities.

So as that biological clock continues to tick, try to remember just how much a little extra effort and sweat can really do to slow that clock down and add years to your life!

References

1. Bellantyne, C. 2009. Does Exercise Really Make You Healthier? Scientific American, 1-4.
2. Ashmore, Amy. 2009. Slow Down Aging With Interval Training. Idea Fitness Journal, 30-32.

[Ed. Note: Melissa Hawthorne, RN, BSN, CSCS is the owner of Priority Fitness Personal Training and Wellness. She is a Master Trainer for the Resist-a-ball Company, ISCA Personal Training, Kick-boxing, and Beamfit. Melissa serves as a fitness consultant for the LaValle Metabolic Institute. To learn more, click here.]