Althouse: "Hate High-Intensity Exercise?... Just trying a H.I.I.T. workout for the first time may be a critical step in including high-intensity training as part of your everyday routine."

June 2, 2018

"Hate High-Intensity Exercise?... Just trying a H.I.I.T. workout for the first time may be a critical step in including high-intensity training as part of your everyday routine."

"The researchers began by gathering 30 men and women who were inactive in general and had not tried interval training before.... Capitalizing on the rest periods between intervals, the researchers repeatedly asked the men and women to assess how they felt during their exertions and also, afterward, to rank each workout according to which had been most and least enjoyable.... But afterward, with the exercise behind them, people’s opinions shifted and almost all of the volunteers decided that, in retrospect, they had found the workouts almost equally enjoyable and would in fact rank the standard, high-intensity interval training as the most pleasant...."

From a NYT "PhysEd" article.

52 comments:

Sal said...: The best exercise comes in classes where there's sufficient numbers of the opposite sex that you work hard to impress them. Adjust accordingly if you're one of the other sexual orientations.; 6/2/18, 9:21 AM
MayBee said...: I love this headline. As if you might include high-intensity training as part of an everyday routine if you never try it for the first time. Just maybe.; 6/2/18, 9:26 AM
Phil 314 said...: Requires gym membership or expensive equipment at home.; 6/2/18, 9:37 AM
Bill Peschel said...: And blogger killed my long post on this again. Twice in a row.; 6/2/18, 10:01 AM
Sam L. said...: I trust nothing the NYT wants to tell me.; 6/2/18, 10:13 AM
FullMoon said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 6/2/18, 10:28 AM
rehajm said...: I do this and like it.; 6/2/18, 10:30 AM
Freeman Hunt said...: H.I.I.T. requires nothing special. I like to run sprints. I don't know why, but I have never been injured from regularly running sprints but was always injured when doing long distance running.; 6/2/18, 10:38 AM
MeatPopscicle1234 said...: i hate traditional exercise... i would much rather do something productive like dig a ditch or chop firewood than get on a fucking treadmill or throw weights around in a stinky gym full of stuck-up, snooty yuppies...; 6/2/18, 10:51 AM
Rana said...: Tried a HIIT workout for the first time a few days ago, and found it to be quite enjoyable and a nice change of pace from my strength and low-impact cardio workouts.; 6/2/18, 10:51 AM
Curious George said...: I do HIIT on the elliptical. 30 seconds all out, 1:30 slow. In the pool too. Run one length, walk one length.

Not as fun as lifting but helps keep off the poundage.; 6/2/18, 10:51 AM
Rana said...: No gym memberships or expensive equipment required. I did the HIIT workout in my living room watching one of the HASFIT videos on YouTube. I had my athletic trainer daughter vet their workouts to make sure they were safe, and she gave me the thumbs up on them. I've been doing their cardio and strength exercises since early March and am now happy to add their HIIT workouts to the mix.; 6/2/18, 10:57 AM
wild chicken said...: You can do the same thing by adding a little running during a walk, or hills on a bike ride; 6/2/18, 10:59 AM
Howard said...: This type of article is for creampuffs who never played on the Varsity who rely on 538-style logic to make decisions for them.; 6/2/18, 11:05 AM
The Vault Dweller said...: HIIT excercises always seemed to me what cats do. They lay around all day and all night, then during their designated exercising period from 3:36 AM until 3:42 AM then sprint periodically in short bursts. Then they resume their standard operating procedure of sleeping, napping, and eating for the remaining 23 hours and 54 minutes of the day.; 6/2/18, 11:28 AM
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...: I do interval training when I swim. I have always hated it. I still hate it. I will hate it until I die.; 6/2/18, 11:40 AM
Jason said...: Check out the old Bodyrock.tv episodes on YouTube with Zuzannah Light, when they were still filming in Prague and Malta.

Zuzannah and her bf split up and her bf kept doing Bodyrock, and it wasn't as good. Zuzannah did her own thing after that. But I did those Bodyrock workouts and she. Kicked. My. Ass.

They had a marketing arrangement with a specialized workout timer, but you can do the workouts as intended with any timer.

And no special equipment required. It was almost all body weight workouts or lifting things like a duffle bag with some books in it. A different one every day. I never went back to the old routine after that.; 6/2/18, 11:56 AM
AllenS said...: Go get a shovel ready job. You can even make some money working for a living.; 6/2/18, 11:58 AM
Howard said...: ARM: Our Masters Swim program is coached by recent grads from the uni swim team, mostly young women. They stress shorter distance, faster pace, perfect, shoulder-saving form and longer rest. This is after an extended warmup of drills and kicking.

Modern collegiate swimming no longer includes grinding out those horrible sets of 100's, 200's and 500's with little rest that we grew up on in the 60's and 70's.; 6/2/18, 12:02 PM
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...: Howard, I should get some lessons to learn what is still possible at my age. I have been unable to find a teacher at my gym pool but I will check out the university.; 6/2/18, 12:17 PM
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...: AllenS said...
Go get a shovel ready job. You can even make some money working for a living.

I don't disagree with this, but I am past the age where I could work a full day of physical labor. Even a day in my workshop, working at my own, slow, pace takes it out of me. Partly it is too many years spent at a desk job, but mostly just age. Ideally, people with desk jobs would work one or two days a week on physical labor, building houses or something else relatively safe but tiring. Unfortunately only communist China has ever taken this idea seriously.; 6/2/18, 12:22 PM
I Callahan said...: Joshua Barker NAILS it. I play hockey a couple of nights a week. I suck at it, but at least it’s not a meat market where you’re otherwise bored out of your mind.; 6/2/18, 12:26 PM
Jeff Weimer said...: Reminds me of this:

TO: All Employees
From: Management
Subject: Special High Intensity Training
In order to assure the highest levels of quality work and productivity from employees, it will be our policy to keep all employees welltrained through our progrom of Special High Intensity Training (S.H.I.T.). We are trying to give employees more S.H.I.T. than anyone else.

If you feel that you do not receive your share of S.H.I.T. on the job, please see your manager. You will be immediately placed at the top of the S.H.I.T. list, and our managers are especially skilled at seeing that you get all the S.H.I.T. you can handle.

Employees who don’t take their S.H.I.T. will be placed in Departmental Employee Evaluation Programs (D.E.E.P S.H.I.T.). Those who fail to take D.E.E.P. S.H.I.T. seriously will have to go to Eployee Attitude Training (E.A.T. S.H.I.T.). Since our managers took S.H.I.T. before they were promoted, they don’t have to do S.H.I.T. anymore, and are all full of S.H.I.T. already.

If you are full of S.H.I.T., you may be interested in a job training others. We can add your name to our Basic Understanding Lecture List. (B.U.L.L. S.H.I.T.).

Those who are full of B.U.L.L. S.H.I.T. will get the S.H.I.T.jobs, and can apply for promotion to Director Of Intensity Programming (D.I.P. S.H.I.T.).

If you have further questions, please direct them to our Head Of Training, Special High Intensity Training (H.O.T.S.H.I.T.).

Thank you,
Boss In General, Special High Intensity Training (B.I.G. S.H.I.T.); 6/2/18, 12:27 PM
I Callahan said...: ARM touches on something that’s nagged me throughout my adult life: how do you motivate yourself to do that kind of exercise when you hate it that much? Honest question.; 6/2/18, 12:30 PM
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...: I Callahan said...
Honest question.

I use guilt and routine.

It used to be quite easy for me to do hard exercise, I would just go and play pickup basketball at the local university. It was incredibly convenient. You could always get a game, I would lose myself in the competition and would play until I was exhausted. But, those days have passed and now motivation is a real problem for me.; 6/2/18, 12:41 PM
Be said...: Did the Couch to 5k training a few years back; ran exactly one 5k and decided that I hated running. Reverted to the walk/jog intervals, which are less taxing on my knees and ankles. Got it into my routine to do this 3x/week.

For resistance training, poked around the internet and found some good 15 min/day bodyweight workouts - these alternate between resistance and mobility exercises, and have been extremely helpful. Never have been what one would consider athletic. Am pleased to say, though, that, thanks to these small bites of exercise done correctly, my lower back has improved and I'm able for the first time in my life to do a sequence of correct pushups.

A major point behind both the HIIT and 15 minute bodyweight workouts is that they are easy enough to make part of a daily routine, and when you find the discipline, as opposed to motivation, they become Habit.; 6/2/18, 12:55 PM
Be said...: Best all around workout I'd had in my life, I think might have been working at a restaurant. When I started, could lift no more than 20 lbs. Two years later, was routinely running 50lb bags of potatoes upstairs, turning them into fries (great tricep workout), then bringing the 5 gal buckets prepped food back down to the coolers.

Could never stand the stairmaster or free weights. Gosh darnit, was running food up and downstairs fun, though.; 6/2/18, 1:00 PM
Yancey Ward said...: I spent most of my adult life as a serious long-distance runner, as I got into my late 40s, though, I had to give up strenuous and continuous activity of that type- the joints just didn't hold up to the repetitive stress any longer- and this applies to any endurance type exercise I can do- cycling, swimming etc. So, I started mixing shorter bursts of intense cardio at the gym with regular weight lifting. I make the intervals longer than a standard HIIT routine (6 to 10 minutes), and significantly more intense than a HIITs I see other people do, and I mix up the cardio into different machines- stair climbing, stationary bike, elliptical, and rowing machine just reduce the stress on any one joint.

I don't like it as much as I liked running outdoors, but it isn't a great chore to me since I still get the endorphin high to some extent.; 6/2/18, 1:12 PM
Joe said...: So they did a study on the psychology of memory and then applied it something completely different.; 6/2/18, 1:15 PM
Char Char Binks, Esq. said...: I do my own version of HIIT three days a week on an elliptical. It may be tough to do at times, but it's preferable to wasting hours on end at moderate exercise that gives less benefit, and it's the only exercise I do. I keep fairly active otherwise, but it's the only thing I do specifically for exercise.

I always do three intervals of about 30 seconds, but with only about 30 seconds in between. The timing is approximate because I go by number of strides, not seconds.

Research shows that even one all-out effort can be enough. Three is the magic number for me; I figure two more intervals will make sure I get it all done. If you plan to do any more than three, you'll probably pace yourself on at least one of the first two, defeating the purpose of HIIT. If you don't get it done by the end of the third, you're wasting your time, so you may as well call it done anyway.; 6/2/18, 1:38 PM
Alex said...: I've been doing HIIT since 2008, way ahead of the curve. There is no substitute for anaerobic activity when it comes to heart health.; 6/2/18, 1:40 PM
Char Char Binks, Esq. said...: Warming up is a stupid waste of time, as is stretching.

Do or do not; there is no warm up.; 6/2/18, 1:44 PM
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...: The other thing I do is take yoga and mat pilates classes at my gym. If the goal is to stay in shape for life it is hard to beat these classes. They improve flexibility, balance and strength around joints.

As someone cursed with a certain measure of toxic masculinity, it took me a while to get past my prejudice about these classes, especially the mat pilates, but, for men of a certain age, they are actually pretty helpful.; 6/2/18, 1:58 PM
William said...: One of the unwelcome side effects of HIIT is sudden cardiac death.; 6/2/18, 2:01 PM
Alex said...: William... HIIT is a great way of knowing how healthy you are. If your heart is in that precarious of a state, it's better to just 'get it over with' if you know what I mean. Better sudden than a long, lingering death. I wouldn't recommend HIIT to anyone over 45.; 6/2/18, 2:12 PM
Bilwick said...: HIIT interests me, but most if not all of the routines utilizing it (at least what I've seen) look as if someone like me (with a bad knee, a bad ankle and a bad lower back) should give it wide berth.; 6/2/18, 2:19 PM
Alex said...: William... HIIT is a game for the healthy to get even healthier. Sort of like the rich getting richer with compound interest.; 6/2/18, 2:23 PM
Birches said...: My problem with HIIT is that I won't actually get up to the high intensity part on my own. If it starts to become uncomfortable, I'll ease off, negating the most important part. For some reason, when I run, I'm committed. If I head out for 3 miles, I would much rather turn around and keep running because I will get home faster. Thus, I end up doing the important part when I run. There isn't an equivalent for burpees.; 6/2/18, 3:59 PM
Michael said...: I am 72. I am in the gym or on the roads six days a week, like it or not. My marathoning days are behind me but I will intersperse quick sprints into my walks, usually on the hills. 30 seconds, 45, a minute at most. Thirty minutes on the rower with 30 second hard and fast pulls followed by a minute of slow strokes. Similar routine on bike. I do a very idiosyncratic bit of weights with the idea of keeping my strength, not gaining. I consider myself exceptionally lazy and wish I could dial the intensity of these workouts up a notch or two. I travel a good bit and enjoy trots and walks wherever I am.; 6/2/18, 4:21 PM
Ambrose said...: Stockholm Syndrome; 6/2/18, 5:38 PM
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...: I just did my penance in the pool. It's always an emotional roller coaster.

Before departing:
Fuck do I have to do this.

On putting foot in pool:
Fuck its cold.

On jumping in pool:
Fuck its cold.

After first rep:
This is not so bad. Don't know what I was bitchin' about.

After second rep:
I can do this.

All subsequent reps:
Fuck I hate this.

In shower immediately afterwards:
I feel good. Don't know what I was bitchin' about.

{ Repeat until death, if lucky }; 6/2/18, 5:40 PM
Be said...: Mr. ARM: it was the most Toxic of the Toxically Masculine men who got me interested in yoga.

My shrink - Bev, how did you get involved in yoga / meditation / stretching?

Me - Through this guy I met on Craigslist.

My shrink - ...

Me - He's got his own house. He's got a (High School) degree. He's had Anxiety Issues.

My shrink - ...

Me - He's about 10 years younger than me and in NH.

My shrink - Empowerment! NH, though?; 6/2/18, 5:57 PM
Be said...: I've a friend who wants me to enroll in a Master Swimmer class. I love just doing laps. Intellectually, I know how to deal with things like rip currents, etc. Intellectually, too, I understand that I am not ready yet to deal with Panic Causing situations.; 6/2/18, 6:00 PM
James K said...: I switched to HIIT from regular running a few years ago. I could never run indoors on a treadmill, just too tedious. Even 30-40 minutes of outdoor running is boring. But I can get a good interval workout done in 15 minutes, so I don’t get bored, even on a treadmill. And I can monitor my pace and heart rate to make sure I’m keeping up the intensity.; 6/2/18, 6:00 PM
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...: Will Brown said...
I've found also, if you can get out of the pool and do some open water swimming you'll get a different take on things.

Even though a surf very sporadically I have never done this. I planned to do a modest open ocean swim on my last trip to Australia but caught the flu from the guy behind me on the plane who coughed on me continuously for 12 hours, got quite sick and didn't get to go. Will try again on another trip.; 6/2/18, 6:17 PM
Michael The Magnificent said...: I highly recommend against getting old.

I'm in my mid 50's, and I am very sore from Friday's bench-press until failure x5, followed by incline press until failure x5. I knew well enough to say "fuck that" to five sets of push-ups until failure that the personal trainer recommended. Today's 30 mile bicycle ride in preparation for a century ride in Door County in the fall didn't help, but I don't regret it either.

You can't stop from getting old, but you can certainly resist it every step of the way.; 6/2/18, 9:42 PM
Fred Drinkwater said...: I am, shall we say, well over 50.
About 5 years ago I had reason to get in good training for cycling, which I had not done seriously since 1980. At my best, I was doing 50-60 mile rides in the foothills around Silicon Valley, or hill climbs (Page Mill, Hicks Rd., Montebello, Mt. Hamilton, Donner Pass, etc. - for those with local knowledge).
Some of these climbs are long hauls at steady grade, and some have sharply varying gradients, which yield HIIT workout profiles, though with somewhat extended max-effort sections.
The downside is that I was tentatively diagnosed with left ventricular hypertrophy (a common syndrome in e.g. high-effort runners), probably because I was somewhat hypertensive when I started training, which I did not figure out until recently. The LVH may even date back to my swim training back in the 80's.
What's the moral of the story? At this age, I'd have been smarter to work with a trainer and/or doctor.; 6/3/18, 12:30 AM
exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...: I do internal training on the treadmill 3 days a week, with 3 days of strength training with 10 lb. dumbbells. And yeah, it's not fun, but it is effective. I played volleyball for years, and loved it, until I took a very bad spill about 5 years ago and realized my volleyball days were over. I also walk outside (I used to walk my dog, but he's too old to walk much these days.) and ride my bike when the weather is nice, but that's more for just plain enjoyment. Because my evening strolls and bike rides are not "workouts," I feel free to stop to pet a dog, to sit for a while on a park bench appreciating the view, and to glide on the bike rather than pedaling madly to get my heartrate up.; 6/3/18, 1:21 AM
rhhardin said...: Swimming uphill is supposed to be good.; 6/3/18, 7:10 AM
daskol said...: Daniel Kahneman writes very clearly about the experiencing self vs. the remembering self. Some people privilege one over the other. Those who enjoy travel, for example, typically privilege the remembering self. The experiencing self couldn't possibly enjoy all that schlepping around: the packing, the planning, the airport lines, the hawkers, the dirt in the bathrooms, or water closets or washrooms or whatever the hell they call them in barbarian lands, the disgusting carpet in the hotel rooms. Yuck. But the remembering self gets to add some great memories which last a lot longer than the momentary discomfort aroused by realizing that's another person's hair on your pillow, for most of us. Me, I'm not sure. That's really fucking disgusting. So it is with HIIT. It's a wild, wild life.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=616-QGQyx-I

Hi Dan!; 6/3/18, 7:11 AM
carrie said...: I do HIIT spinning at age 63. It is great. I lost 50 pounds at the rate of 1 pound a week after I started spinning and I have kept the weight off for more than three years--I didn't change my diet (other than to cut out a bedtime snack) but just added 5 spinning workouts per week. It is also a great legal high--my mood always improves after a HITT workout. There are a lot of 60+ year old who do HIIT, so don't let being older stop you from trying it if you are healthy.; 6/4/18, 9:48 AM
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