Exercise Intensity

What is exercise intensity and why is it important?

In simplest terms it is how hard an exercise is at a point in time.  It is the level of momentary exertion during exercise.  This can be quantified by measures such as a person's heart rate expressed as percentage of one's maximum heart rate or pounds of weight lifted expressed as a perecentage of one's one-rep maximum lift. Exercise of sufficient intensity is necessary to stimulate the body to make a change.  When the body is worked beyond what it is equipped to handle the body adapts as a form of self-protection.   The body will make a positive adaptation only if given enough time to recover from the exercise.  

How high should the level of exercise intensity be?

That depends on what you want to accomplish. The body will adapt to the nature of the demands placed on it.  If one engages in lower intensity activities such as running the body adapts by increasing endurance for that activity with little or no increase in muscle strength.  If one engages in higher intensity exercise such as weight lifting the body adapts by getting stronger but with less improvement in the way of endurance. 

If one’s goal is to get stronger how much high intensity exercise is necessary?

The higher the intensity the less exercise you will be able to withstand, but this high intensity exercise produces a bigger stimulus for strength gains. The larger stimulus for strength gains requires a longer recovery period.   For the elite athlete the required intensity level will be quite high, but for those who do little physical activity that intensity level will be lower and manageable.  Whether you are 18 or 80 there will be a level that you can manage.  

There is a wide range of individual differences in response to high intensity exercise and how much each person can withstand.   Some will show great results and some people will be low responders.   An experienced trainer will see the difference and change the workout accordingly.

Try performing squats with adequate weight such that you cannot possibly continue with good form after ninety seconds.  Try doing it again the next week with more weight or for more reps.  You will find that most everybody will improve, and in fact, the improvement at first will come easily as your body will be well rested.  If you improve doing just one set an additional set is unnecessary and only serves to dilute intensity.  By doing fewer leg exercises you will be able to devote more energy and effort for rest of the muscles of your body.   If you work sufficiently hard on every exercise your workout will be less that half an hour.  For those who have been inactive and not accustomed to this method one can slowly build up the intensity at their own pace.

How much time is needed to recover from high intensity exercise? 

If you start from the premise of how much exercise can you withstand this will lead to drudgery, insufficient recovery, lower intensity, less results, and eventually quitting and injury.  Some spend several hours a week in the gym just to maintain their present level of fitness or they claim they have hit a plateau.  It does not have to be that way.  If they worked out a little less often the quality of their workouts would improve and they might begin to see improvement again.

If you start from the premise of how little the amount of intense exercise you can get away with and still achieve positive results you will find you are willing to workout at a much higher level of intensity, have more time to recovery, and have better results.  How often you need to workout will depend on a number of factors; most important are level of intensity, duration of exercise, and frequency of certain exercises. You can discover the right formula through trial and error.  If you can find a trainer who knows how to manipulate these variables, and most importantly, knows how to do this safely you will find your continued improvement will be measured in years instead of months.  With the right supervision this is a strength training program that people of any age or fitness level can stick to -  a 30 minute workout, usually once or twice a week with continuing positive results.  

What to do when chronic running injuries occur

Ted was a gifted runner. In his late forties his knees began to aggravate him, and they got worse each year.  At age 54 his doctor advised him to stop running. He started strength training with the aim of getting back to running.

We worked around his condition for a while and slowly incorporated leg exercises into the routine - leg curl, calf raises, leg press, adduction, abduction, squats, and occasionally partial leg extensions.

Ted wanted to start running again.  He did and the next day his was limping again. I told him, “You are able to lift 450 pounds on the leg press to a very deep fatigue to the point where your legs are unable to move, and the next day you have not a hint of pain.”  For Ted with adequate rest after strength training he came back stronger each week.  With running there was no recovery or improvement, only injury.

We were following a high intensity interval training (HIIT) routine – one to three different exercises per body part with very little rest between sets.  We were not doing endless sets exposing the knees to unnecessary stress. With this protocol there is less chance of repetitive-use injuries.

Ted saw that it was working, but he was concerned about weight gain. I told him, “I could run a mile and be in pain for days, or I could eat three less Oreos and stick to a strength training program that will increase my resting metabolism. Besides, you will burn calories after the workout as well”.

Ted had a choice.  Run, get injured,and gain weight from inactivity, or strength train, get added protection against injury, and make some dietary changes. It is either the latter or face the possibility of knee replacement well before it might have have been otherwise. For those who overdo it or have a predisposition to injuries that result from running, injuries will occur. It might take years before they become ruinous. I don’t rule out running, but don’t run to the point of injury and take steps to enhance your strength so you can better support your joints. 

No amount of running will add strength to your legs, - endurance yes, but strength no. A ten year study comparing non-runners to runners showed that both groups had lost the same amount of lean body weight over the decade. Loss of muscle mass it part of the aging process. The best you can do is to take steps to keep or add the strength and muscle that inexorably diminishes each year without strength training.

There cardiovascular effects from HIIT as well. Start with leg press or squats and work the muscles to a deep fatigue. You will reach your target heart rate very quickly. Just seconds after completion of the first exercise begin the next exercise. You will continue breathing hard, and your pulse will remain elevated. Work all the major muscle groups with minimal rest between each exercise. You will breath hard from start to finish. This type of training produces a high E.P.O.C. response – a large after-workout calorie burn.

You build up to this workout slowly. At Austin Personal Trainers and New Orleans Fitness Training we can show you how.

High Intensity Inteval Training Lowers Appetite

From this article in the International Journal of Obesity, High-intensity intermittent exercise attenuates ad-libitum energy intake comes this conclusion: “High-intensity intermittent exercise suppresses subsequent ad-libitum energy intake in overweight inactive men. This format of exercise was found to be well tolerated in an overweight population.” The study compared a group of over-weight men who did moderate exercise to another over-weight group who did high intensity interval exercise (HIIT).  Seventy minutes after they exercised the HIT group consumed fewer calories and also consumed fewer calories the next day. That has been my experience as well – at least directly after a workout.  On the days I had planned to do a sprint session it is not usual that I am trying to get the session in before I eat.  I don’t want to do this type of high intensity training on a full stomach.  So it often turns out that just when I was feeling hungry I do my sprint training.  It often happens that I don’t feel like eating after exercise, but it is more pronounced after any form of HIIT either sprint training or HIIT strength training.  For me that lack appetite lasts hours. At Austin Personal Training and at New Orleans Fitness Trainers we can help you gradually build up to a high intensity strength training or an aerobic high intensity training program that is safe, effective, and efficient for your age and condition. You need not spend hours in the gym to feel better, look better, and perform better.

High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)

From this article, Short workouts: Will exercising for 15 minutes once a week get you fit? are some quotes and responses after the quotes.

“It sounds too good to be true”

If something is too be good to be true then it follows that it really is too good to be true. The truth is the workouts are very demanding, but they won’t take a lot of your week. Anyone with proper instruction can do it though: you build up to it slowly. Our oldest client was 95 years old.

“Over the past decade, many trainers have begun advocating for shorter, less-frequent workout regimens – claiming that they are much more efficient for weight loss and muscle building.”

The truth is these workouts have been around for decades. Forty years ago body builder Mike Mentzer did as little as four exercises a week.

“The key to the short workout’s success revolves around a concept known as high-intensity interval training (HIIT). HIIT is a heightened form of interval training that involves alternating between periods of short, intense physical activity and fixed periods of low activity or rest."

“With more traditional workouts, there was a tendency to pace yourself – so holding back for the first 20 to 30 minutes. But when you design them shorter with very few breaks in between…you’re moving multiple body parts over the course of one movement, the heart rate is higher, and it just becomes more efficient.”

With longer volume-type workouts the goal is to do more – more reps or more sets. The only way to do that is to try to conserve your efforts. There is a bias away from intensity. With HIIT the goal is to make the reps so intense that you cannot do additional reps. Exercising with a bias toward intensity results in a much more productive session.

“Furthermore, some studies suggest that these periods of high intensity exercise produce a unique metabolic response in the body, causing it to continue to burn fat for up to 24 to 48 hours post-workout.”

This is called Excessive Post-exercise Oxygen Consumption (EPOC), and there is no other form of exercise that produces more EPOC than HIIT for strength.

The article goes on to talk about frequency of exercise. You will be able to do sprint training more often than strength training. If you are doing sprint interval training there is less restructuring of tissue taking place after the exercise, while HIIT strength training involves extensive restructuring of damaged tissue after a bout of exercise. It will take longer to totally recover. It will vary by individual as to the necessary recover time.

Our experience after conducting literally tens of thousands of exercise sessions over the years is that less is more. We start from the premise of seeing how little exercise is needed to produce significant results rather than from the premise of seeing how much exercise one can withstand. The former is a prescription for progress, and the later is a prescription for over-training.

At Austin Personal Training and at New Orleans Fitness Trainers we can help you gradually build up to a high intensity strength training or an aerobic high intensity training program that is safe, effective, and efficient for your age and condition. You need not spend hours in the gym to feel better, look better, and perform better.

Health and Physical Function Improves with High Intensity Training

This study, High Intensity Training Improves Health and Physical Function in Middle Aged Adults, seeks to determine whether HIT (high Intensity training) will improve physical function and metabolic health in untrained middle aged subjects.

Subject performed sprint training (10 × 6-second sprints with a one minute recovery between each sprint) twice a week.

The results: “Following eight weeks of HIT there was a significant improvement in aerobic capacity (8% increase in VO2 peak; p < 0.001), physical function (11%–27% respectively; p < 0.05) and a reduction in blood glucose area under the curve (6% reduction; p < 0.05). This study demonstrates for the first time the potential of HIT as a training intervention to improve skeletal muscle function and glucose clearance as we age.”

I prefer to do fewer sprints (5 or 6) for a longer duration (30 seconds) with a longer rest between sprints (90 seconds). Whatever protocol you use it has to be demanding to be effective. The body must be presented with a stimulus that is more than it is equipped to handle. The body as a form of self-protection will then make a positive adaptation if given the proper nutrients and enough time to recover. If the stimulus is not demanding there is no reason for the body to make a change.

At Austin Personal Training and at New Orleans Fitness Trainers we can help you gradually build up to a high intensity strength training or an aerobic high intensity training program that is safe, effective, and efficient for your age and condition. You need not spend hours in the gym to feel better, look better, and perform better.

High-Intensity Strength Training Beneficial to Parkinson's Patients

From this study, High-intensity strength training shows benefit for Parkinson’s patients comes this quote:

"High-intensity strength training produced significant improvements in quality of life, mood and motor function in older patients with Parkinson’s disease…“We saw improvements in strength, muscle size and power, which we expected after rigorous weight training; but we also saw improvement in balance and muscle control, We also saw improvement in cognition, mood and sense of well-being.”

At Austin Personal Training and New Orleans Personal Training we have worked with Parkinson patients. We use primarily medical rehab equipment and can finely tune the weight and range of motion to those with limitations.

Short Effective Workouts

From this article Short workouts: Will exercising for 15 minutes once a week get you fit?

“The key to the short workout’s success revolves around a concept known as high-intensity interval training (HIIT). HIIT is a heightened form of interval training that involves alternating between periods of short, intense physical activity and fixed periods of low activity or rest. Intervals can include anything from fast squats and pushups to weight lifting and powerful cardio.”

The goal in exercise is expose the body to more than it is used to handling. If given enough time for recovery the body as a form of self-protection will come back stronger, more enduring, and more able to withstand the stresses previously placed on it. That can take one hour or two, or it can take less than ½ an hour. Regardless of the time period at the end the session you want to come out spent.

A prescription for the shorter sessions: Warm up on the bike (optional). Cut out the warm up sets. Cut out the intermediate sets. Start each rep slowly and safely until warmed up for that particular movement. Lift heavy demanding weights through a very safe range of motion. Minimize time between machines. Relentless go from one exercise to the next working all the major muscle groups at least once. Do not pace yourself. If after 20 minutes you have gas left in your tank and want to do more then you definitely didn’t do it right.

If you did it right your metabolism will be significantly raised for the rest of the day and on into the next. HIIT burns more calories than any other form of exercise particularly after the workout is over (See: EPOC – Excessive Post-exercise Oxygen Consumption). It will take your muscle days to recover and repair. The repair and rebuilding is metabolically expensive - it demand calories. It is cardiovascular demanding and positively affects cardiovascular health. Your blood pressure will easier to control.

Do it once or twice a week. Compliment it with sprint training on suitable aerobic equipment a couple of more times a week coupled with modest dietary changes. All this will take you a little over an hour of your week. If you haven’t exercised in years build up to this slowly. If you stick to it for six months (@ 25-35 total hrs.) your health will be significantly improved.

A little strength training, an active lifestyle, and better eating choices can have profound effects on one's fitness and health. These changes do not require endless hours in the weight room. Our fitness trainers at New Orleans Personal Trainers and at Austin TX Personal Training can guide you through an effective strength training program that will achieve life-changing results.

Going All Out Again

A series of injuries including a ruptured Achilles tendon resulted in nine month of no exercise - none. I didn’t even work for a couple of months. I started back lifting what I could handle and began a sprint training program three times a week on a stationary recumbent bike - 120 seconds warm-up followed by a 30 second all-out sprint followed by at 90 second easy recovery pace. Eventually I worked up to a total of eight sprints. If you can do more you are pacing yourself.

After the first sprint I was breathing so hard I was panicked and reeling. I had to get off the bike momentarily. Only through sheer willpower (Not really, more like embarrassment. Did I want my workout to be over after only 30 seconds?) was I able complete a second sprint and the reeling and panic returned. It was awful. My legs were throbbing several minutes afterwards as I lay writhing on the couch.

Did I mention that I was really out of shape? The beauty of being really out of shape is that the curve to the upside is really steep if one starts exercising and sticks with it. I did two more sessions that week and each session, while difficult, got easier. By the end of the second week, I had improved dramatically, the panic had subsided, and I had continued to up the RPMs each session and had added a couple more sprints. At the end of two months I was doing eight sprints at much higher RPMs than I had started without all the panic.

We got a new recumbent that had higher resistant levels so I upped the intensity, and I now do just four sprints three times a week plus the strength training session. That comes out to about an hour a week of training.

The results after six months:

My testosterone level was tested; it was up 35%

I have been on blood pressure meds for 30 years. My doctor eliminated one med and as the readings continued to fall cut the other in half. At one doctor's visit the BP reading was 108/ 68, so they took the other arm and it was 106/66 which was very low for me. He told me to continue doing what I was doing. I have been taking these dosages like forever. For him to cut back on these dosages is a really big thing. The doctor will be coming into facility sometime in January to exercise.

I am 30 pound lighter. Dieting concession - I consume all my calories within eight hours each day.

I am able to go all out at age 60 to reach my maximum pulse rate and beyond and not get knocked back on my heals prostrate on the couch, and turn around and do it again and again and the next day do it again.

I feel really good. I compare that to the panic and the reeling I felt after one 30 second sprint six months ago. It was chasing my daughter that caused me to rip my Achilles. I am by far better able to keep up with my young daughter. The difficult work was worth it.

At Austin Personal Training and at New Orleans Fitness Trainers we can help you gradually build up to a high intensity strength training or an aerobic high intensity training program that is safe, effective, and efficient for your age and condition. You need not spend hours in the gym to feel better, look better, and perform better.

High intensity activity affects fat loss

From this study, Moderate to Vigorous Physical Activity and Weight Outcomes: Does Every Minute Count? comes this quote:

"What we learned is that for preventing weight gain, the intensity of the activity matters more than duration," says Jessie X. Fan, professor of family and consumer studies at the U. "This new understanding is important because fewer than 5 percent of American adults today achieve the recommended level of physical activity in a week according to the current physical activity guidelines. Knowing that even short bouts of 'brisk' activity can add up to a positive effect is an encouraging message for promoting better health."

The recommended number of minutes of exercise a week is 150 minutes. Fewer than five percent of American adults today achieve the recommended level of physical activity in a week. The recommended program might be a great program, but if next to nobody does it what good is it? People exercising with greater intensity for far less than the recommended 150 weekly minutes have achieved really amazing results.

At Austin Personal Training and at New Orleans Fitness Trainers we can help you gradually build up to a high intensity regime that is safe, effective, and efficient for your age. Our oldest client is 88. Using such a program you can expect to feel better and have a dramatic improvement in your health.

Less time exercising more fat loss

Exercises are performed in all sorts of ways. Expose your body to more work that it is used to handling, allow rest and recovery and the body will make a positive adaptation as a form of self protection. You can put in more time – do more reps, do more sets, run a little further, engage in whatever the activity is a little longer – and as long as you don’t overdo it the body will come back improved.

You can work a little harder – more weight on the bar, a steeper hill at the same pace, sprinting instead of jogging - and again as long as you don’t overdo it the body will come back improved. If you exercise in this way the workouts cannot be very long but they can be very effective. Just one benefit is fat loss.

From this study, High-Intensity Intermittent Exercise and Fat Loss this quote:

The effect of regular aerobic exercise on body fat is negligible; however, other forms of exercise may have a greater impact on body composition. For example, emerging research examining high-intensity intermittent exercise (HIIE) indicates that it may be more effective at reducing subcutaneous and abdominal body fat than other types of exercise.

For my time and effort, I much prefer high-intensity intermittent exercise. Doing exercise in this way you continue to burn calories long after the workout is over. It is a workout you need to work up to. It can be conducted on all sorts of aerobic equipment. I use a recumbent bike. The workout consists of a warm-up followed by an all-out sprint and then a recovery period at a slower pace. The sprint and recovery are then repeated for
up to eight cycles. There is not set formula on how long the sprints should
be. I use the format laid out by Dr. Mercola on his web site – three minutes
of warm-up followed by a 30 second sprint with a 90 second recovery period pedaling at a slower pace the sprint and recover again. Doing it for eight cycles would mean four minutes of highly demanding work. I think it is worth it for the results.

All-out isn’t 80 or 90%, it is really all-out. The first time I did I did two sprints and I was really spent. I am up to six and it is difficult. The fat is coming off; one is less likely to be lured by comfort food when one putting out a lot of effort. It is taking me less time to get my pulse back to normal after a session. After a long hiatus from exercise I managed to get badly out of shape. The best part of getting back to exercise is that I feel much better.

At New Orleans Fitness Trainers and at Austin Personal Training we can show you how to work up to this workout and how to workout effectively and efficiently so you can spend less time in the gym and more time doing the things you want to do.

Getting to your target heart rate with resistance training

The client was 58 and very fit. She was wearing a pulse meter on her wrist. Ninety seconds into the workout her pulse was 148 which is approaching her maximum for a person her age.

One method of determining one’s maximum heart rate is to subtract one’s age from 220 bpm. Using this method this client’s maximum heart rate would be 162 bpm.

We began the workout with the leg press using a heavy weight and slow initial movements. The leg press involves large muscle groups and can get one’s heart rate up in short order. The slow starts minimize force associated with injury and allow one to warm up safely with the heavier weights. The warm up is in effect incorporated in to the first set using a challenging weight. After a minute she was breathing hard and I told her to move faster. At this point her muscles were warmed up and appreciably weaker. Warmed-up weaker muscles are unlikely to generate enough force to cause injury as long as good form is maintained. Her attempts to move fast did not amount to much at that point in the set, but it did allow her to keep moving and achieve a deeper fatigue.

One of the goals or strength training is to expose the muscles to more work that they are used to handling. Performing a set in the manner can safely achieve that end. In most instances there is really no need to sap one’s energy to do a duplicate set. Effort, energy, and concentration can be devoted to the next exercise or muscle group.

Upon completion of the set she quickly moved on to the next exercise. Everything is pre-set; there is no need to dawdle. There is often a lot of standing around in a gym. Often times there is more time resting between sets than there is actually exercising. Not so with High Intensity Interval Training, HIIT. This is the type of training we do at both of our facilities -New Orleans Fitness Training and PersonalTraining in Austin.

As self protection the body adapts to the demands placed on it if given adequate time to recover. In her case she came back stronger and more able to withstand the sustained cardio demands. People of any age can do this workout and can build up to at their own pace. Our oldest client is 93 years old.

More information on the subject of cardio and strength training:

Cardio, anaerobic, and aerobic exercise explained

Blog entries regarding the heart healthy benefits of strength training

The health benefits of interval training - one study

A recent New York Times article How 1-Minute Intervals Can Improve Your Health reported on the benefits of High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). The subjects exercised on a stationary bike. There were two groups of subjects, unfit subjects and cardiac patients Plus a control group. The results:

"Despite the small time commitment of this modified HIIT program, after several weeks of practicing it, both the unfit volunteers and the cardiac patients showed significant improvements in their health and fitness.

The results, published in a recent review of HIIT-related research, were especially remarkable in the cardiac patients. They showed “significant improvements” in the functioning of their blood vessels and heart, said Maureen MacDonald, an associate professor of kinesiology at McMaster who is leading the ongoing experiment."

Also noted were the benefits demonstrated in earlier studies:

“In unfit but otherwise healthy middle-aged adults, two weeks of modified HIIT training prompted the creation of far more cellular proteins involved in energy production and oxygen. The training also improved the volunteers’ insulin sensitivity and blood sugar regulation, lowering their risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, according to a study published last fall in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise.”

The researcher concludes: “It’s very potent exercise,” Dr. Gibala said. “And then, very quickly, it’s done.”

HIIT using strength training exercises is the type of training we do at New Orleans Personal Trainers at Austin Fitness Trainers.

Past blog entries about cardio health and HIIT

Less intense exercise can be better – two observations.

Some trainees want to go all out every time. Some trainees think they are going all out. They really haven’t revved up their engines as high as they think they have, but that is another matter. For those who like to go all out it is a good thing for awhile. After a time the most hardened trainee will suffer from burnout or become over-trained.

A good trainer will anticipate the burnout or the over-training and make pro-active adjustments for the trainee. Sometimes as trainers we miss the cues and have to make adjustments after the fact. I had one client who absolutely loved the workouts and trained very hard. He then became sporadic in his attendance. I asked him about it. He told me no longer looked forward to the sessions and would look for a reason to stay late at work so that he could avoid an appointment. Lesson learned; we made adjustments. We did not go hard every time after that. When we did he was really up for it.

I had driven woman who swam hard three times a week at 6:30 in the morning in addition to her training with me. When she first started training with me she improved steadily. The improvement soon diminished, and then it stopped. I had raised her weight on the leg press just two pounds. With great difficulty she managed 60 seconds of exercise, not the usual 90 to 120 seconds. I had her take a week off. We avoided the leg press for a while, and we did a few moderate workouts. After five weeks we went back to the leg press. I was anxious to see what would happen after five weeks of not doing the leg press. For her the weight almost felt easy, and she did the exercise a minute longer than her previous effort – she had doubled her time on an exercise that had crushingly defeated her the last time out.

Had I not had her rest and told her to fight through that plateau she would be forever stuck at the same weight on the leg press. From that point on we trained on the leg press less often and her improvement continued unabated.

Everyone has a different capacity for demanding exercise, just as some people can tolerate more time in the sun before burning. As trainers we make inferences concerning a client’s ability to recover and improve from exercise primarily by monitoring a client’s improvement or lack thereof. With experience we get it right most of the time.

Through trial and error you can eventually find out what works. At Austin TX Personal Trainers and New Orleans Personal Trainers our personal trainers have developed a high intensity training program (HIT) with special attention paid to recovery to insure that the improvements are ongoing – our business depends on it.

Related post:
How To Ruin Two Workouts

Less frequent exercise can be better - a personal experience

When I first began lifting weights I worked out every other day - Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, Monday, Wednesday, Friday - repeat - and I never missed for five straight months.  The sessions were with a personal trainer, and accurate records were kept.

Soon my progress stopped. I was particularly stuck with bicep curls just barely achieving eight reps each time for five months. Twice during that time I got nine reps on that one exercise; I likened it to a religious experience – achieving beyond the realm of normal.  The workouts during this time were grueling, as I was hell bent on breaking through a plateau.

I went home for Christmas.  It had been more than a week since my last workout when I found a health club with the very same line of equipment I had been using. I thought surely I would be weaker. I was shocked to find that I was stronger. On the bicep curls I got eleven reps, not the usual eight. I had no explanation for it. I concluded that it must be that the equipment was better oiled. I was not ready to accept that less can be better.

The positive adaptation resulting from strength training involves a structural change - the rebuilding of muscle. For most that involves several days to be fully recovered. Think how long it takes an injury to totally heal. Some go back to the gym before being fully recovered and as a result make minimal progress. Some repeat this mistake for years. I was one of them. 

On the other hand, the positive adaptation as a result of aerobic activity is primarily a bio-chemical change - the body up-regulates its ability to burn sugar for an extended time. The recovery period is short - hence running can be done with greater frequency.

After much trial and error I eventually figured it out. There are those for whom two or three times a week might be appropriate; I was not one of them. I came to realize that we all improve in the beginning at two or three times a week because we are learning a skill, and that must account for some of the improvement.  Also, in the beginning we are not yet taxing our bodies as much as when we work up to higher intensities, and as such require less recovery time. When I cut back my workouts improvement was almost easy. Had I not figured it out I would have quit never to return to the weight room again. I think this is the experience of many in the weight room.

People have different tolerance for exposure to sunlight before getting burnt. The same applies for exercise; everyone has a different capacity for exercise and ability to recover from that exercise. As trainers at first we don’t know what the individual’s rate of recovery from a workout is, but we quickly infer it by seeing the progress or sometimes the lack of it. From those inferences an experienced personal trainer can gage the frequency, intensity, and duration of the training sessions to keep progressing.

When I finally did cut back and started to improve again I had more enthusiasm, focus, and I actually did work even harder. That will happen when you are seeing improvement for your efforts, and you will be more likely to stick to it.

You can get more out of exercising less with High Intensity Interval Training. We use HIIT at both our locations - New Orleans Fitness Training and Austin Fitness Training.

Related posts:
High intensity exercise and recovery - how much is enough?
Strength Training: 67 Percent Improvement in 28 days

How To Ruin Two Workouts

The Heart Can Benefit From Brief Intense Exercise

From this Science daily article Brief, Intense Exercise Can Benefit The Heart, Study Shows:

"More and more, professional organizations are recommending interval training during rehabilitation from diseases like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, peripheral artery disease and cardiovascular disease. Our research certainly provides evidence that this type of exercise training is as effective as traditional moderate intensity training," says MacDonald. "We wouldn't be surprised to see more rehabilitation programs adopt this method of training since it is often better tolerated in diseased populations".

Six weeks of intense sprint interval exercise training improves the structure and function of arteries as much as traditional and longer endurance exercise with larger time commitment.

Short bursts of high intensity sprints--known to benefit muscle and improve exercise performance--can improve the function and structure of blood vessels, in particular arteries that deliver blood to our muscles and heart.

This type of training mentioned in the article is called high intensity interval training (HIIT). With HIIT you really can get more out of exercising less. This training can be incorporated into strength training sessions as well. HIIT is the type of strength training we do at both of our facilities: New Orleans Fitness Trainers and Austin Fitness Trainers.

Some of the benefits associated with high intensity interval strength training beside a healthy heart are:

Improves athletic performance
Increases metabolism
Preserves bone density
Lowers anxiety
A Ninefold Improvement in Fat Burning
Improves cognitive development

An exercise plan anyone can stick to

From this NY Times article Full-Service Gyms Feel a Bit Flabby: 

“Up to 45 percent of fitness-club members quit going in any given year, according to the International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association [IHRSA].”

 And this

 “Up until the last six years, it’s been relatively easy to sell memberships, and to replace people going out the back door with people coming through the front door.”

It is nice to have full service clubs will all the bells and whistles, but most people only utilize a small part of all the clubs have to offer.  Worst still, with all they have to offer, most people fail to use the facility with any regularity.  At the end of the year the only thing lighter is their wallet.  According to IHRSA only 30 percent use their club memberships on a regular basis.  For many health clubs end up being collection agencies disguised as health clubs.

 A better plan that you can stick to for years:

• Do something you enjoy. You more likely stick to it.  Ride a bike, golf, swim run, or (fill in the blank).  I take my dog on long walks. I am never bored, and I always look forward to it.
•  
• Make modest changes in your eating habits.  Follow an eating plan that you can stick to.  You burn about 150 calories for each mile you cover. You can run a mile or eat three less Oreos.  I choose to eat three less Oreos.
•  
• Strength train.  It will help with #2 above - it will boost your metabolism.  Strength training is also good for #1 – you’ll be able to do those things you enjoy longer, better, and with less chance of injury. 

Choose a strength training program that is effective, efficient, and safe.  High Intensity Training (HIT) for strength does not require a big chunk of your time, the improvement you see will likely motivate you to stick to it, and it is safe. HIT is the type of training we use at Austin Fitness Training and atNew Orleans Fitness Trainers.  We can guide you through a personal training program that will enable you to get more out of less time exercisingand keep improving.

Sticking to an exercise program for the long term

Every January health clubs are crowded for what I call the two week resolution. By the end of the month the crowds are gone. The only thing that remains constant and enduring is the mandatory monthly payment for a gym membership not used.  You go there to lose weight, and the only thing lighter is your wallet.

Seven out of 10 American adults don't exercise regularly despite the proven health benefits, a study released Sunday says - Study: Most Americans don't exercise regularly. That sounds about right. The renewal rate for health club membership is 30 percent. Of those that rejoin a small minority use the club on a regular basis.

Here just one approach for sticking to an exercise program that has worked for me and for those whom I have worked. (1) Select an exercise that produces the most benefits.(2) Commit to something you know you can maintain for the long term. Don’t set the bar too high.  (3) Select a program designed to produce the highest marginal return – the most benefit for minimal time exercising.

Regarding number one, the most benefit: High intensity strength training reverses more of the bio-markers of aging than any other form of exercise.

Regarding number two, not setting the bar too high: consider high intensity training (HIT). HIT requires as little as one 30 minute session a week. The remainder of the week do something physically that you enjoy. Ride your bike. Go for walks.

Regarding number three, for the highest marginal returning for time spent exercising nothing compares HIT for the time spent. There is a long list of benefits

Studies have shown that significant strength increases result from high intensity strength training as little as once or twice a week. Just improve a little each week and over time you will feel years younger. As you become stronger you will find you will be able to engage in more activities, and this will further enhance your health. It all starts with strength. High intensity strength training is the type of personal training we do at New Orleans Fitness Trainers and at Austin Personal Training.

That special quality of a good personal trainer

You can have all the qualities common to professionals (honesty, reliability, etc.) and all the qualities particular to the field of exercise (knowledge and experience in the field). That is often sufficient to be successful, but it might not be enough for the more advanced client or those who want to go to the “next level”. The really good trainers possess the quality of being able to be “in the moment"; this special quality will enable a trainer to take the client to the next level.

The next level? Someone exercising is willing to exercise at a certain level by themselves. That level is less than the absolute maximum they are capable of. A good fitness trainer who is in the moment will get the subject to go to the next level - somewhere above what they are willing to do and closer to what they are truly capable of. As one of my clients once told me, “I pay you to give me a workout I could not possibly get by myself”.

What is being in the moment? The trainer will know what the client is experiencing every repetition of every exercise. To do so the personal trainer will pay close attention to cues –breathing, breaks in form, facial expressions, and what the client tells them. By paying close attention to the client the trainer will be able to anticipate the breaks in form and be able to talk them through it without an interruption in the flow of the exercise. As the set becomes difficult the trainer will be able to help the client with breathing and help the client avoid the panic that can happen when doing demanding work. Each client will respond differently on each exercise. A personal trainer should intimately know how each client will respond on each exercise or each exercise sequence. A personal trainer might ask for “one more” when the client is about to throw in the towel. The client is thinking, “OK just one more, I don’t want to quit so close to the end”.

Years ago at a health club during one set I heard a trainer tell the client “one more” six times. He had no idea what that client was capable of. He had no idea where that client was in the particular set. The trainer was constantly looking at his watch. His body language shouted out boredom. That personal trainer was not in the moment as the client was going through a difficult workout.

The trainer who is in the moment will be totally consumed with what is going on with a client during those most difficult repetitions. There is great satisfaction in taking the client to a level the client could not possibly achieve by herself. The trainer will draw upon all her knowledge of that individual client and all her past experience working with that client. She will use whatever psychological ploys she knows that had worked in the past. The client will really appreciates it, and it is anything but boring for the trainer.

At Austin Fitness Trainers and at New Orleans Personal Trainers our workout program involves high intensity interval training. It is a challenging workout, but the trainers slowly build the clients up to that workout. Our trainers have been through the same process. Our New Orleans fitness trainers and Austin fitness trainers often spend months working out and interning before they take on clients for one simple reason: Before being able to be in the moment with a client the personal trainer must first have been there themselves.

How Much Exercise Is Enough?

Exercise beyond what is optimal is at best a waste of time and possibly harmful as injuries occur or the body does not fully recover from the exercise. That time spend sweating and enduring discomfort could have been spent relaxing or more importantly recovering. The human body is the only machine that improves when it is worked, but at some point it wears down like any other machine. If the body is not permitted adequate time to recover injury, a compromised immune system or fatigue can result.

What is the point of the additional exercise if the end result is injury? Few are equipped to run long hours on the road without the eventual injury. Not everybody listens to their body and opts to stop exercise short of injury. According to Runners World 70 percent of runners who run regularly for a year will experience an injury. While these injuries may be small they can become chronic if not allowed to heal fully and in the end might require surgery. Is it worth possible injury just to burn a few more calories? This is not to say one should not run, but one should consider that possible downside of running those extra miles.

Each person must weigh the costs and benefits of exercise to find what is the appropriate amount of exercise for them. The more one does an activity the benefit, while it may be positive, becomes increasingly smaller for each extra hour spent doing it. For each additional hour spent doing an activity the likelihood of an injury increases and the foregone free time becomes more highly valued. At some point it is just not worth the extra time, effort, and potential injury for the very small benefit. Each person will have their own cost benefit analysis to answer the question of how much exercise is enough.

The body has a limited ability to recover from stress. If inadequate time is permitted for the body to recover the body cannot make a positive adaptation. This is especially true with weight lifting. Most people will show improvements from weight lifting program the first few months of training. Eventually the gains become much smaller or they stop improving altogether. It is at this point that the demands place on the body have become greater that the body’s ability to recover. In an attempt to keep progressing many place even greater demands on the system to get beyond the “plateau”. It is at this point that lifting becomes drudgery and injuries occur. Many eventually stop exercising when the results are not forthcoming.

It is hard to stay motivated when there is little or no real improvement to show for it. Little wonder that that average stay with a trainer is just six months. We all have a limit on how much we can improve our body. That limit is defined by our genetics. We can come closer to that limit only when the body is given adequate recovery time. Take some additional days off.

Rather than see how much exercise you can withstand start from the aim of determining what is the least amount that will produce the highest marginal return. The formula is simple; perform just enough work of a demanding nature, rest, following by work a little more demanding to see continuous improvement. You can be stronger, more toned, more flexible and less prone to injuries in as little as one or two 30 minute sessions a week with ahigh intensity training program, HIT.

One can live well without requiring hours each week engaged in monotonous exercise. Significant strength increases occur exercising as little as once or twice a week IF it's the right exercise program with the right trainer. Our fitness trainers at Austin Personal Training and at New Orleans Fitness Trainers can guide you through an effective HIT personal training program.

The six factors of fitness

The six commonly recognized factors of fitness are:

· Stronger bones
· Cardiovascular efficiency
· Flexibility
· Leanness
· Muscular size, strength, and endurance
· Resistance to injury

You have options for improving each of those factors:

1. You can opt to concentrate on one or two of the factors that you enjoy or that is particularly beneficial to your sport or active and ignore that other factors. You'll not attain as high a level of overall fitness.
2. You could do one consolidated workout that addresses all the factors of fitness.
3. You could do a combination of two more more different forms of exercise that in combination address all the factors. That might be very time consuming.
4. You could do one consolidated workout that addresses all the factors of fitness and supplement that with exercise beneficial to your chosen sport or activity.

For those who want to address all factors of fitness and get the most out of your time in the gym you might want to consider High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). No other single workout addresses all six factors of fitness in one complete workout - none.

A properly conducted HIIT regime will result in increases in bone density, resistance to injury, strength, muscle, flexibility, muscle tone, resting metabolism, and cardiovascular conditioning. You will feel and look better, and your life can be transformed in minutes a week. Runners and tri-athletes can spend less time in the gym and have more time to spend running or doing other forms of aerobic exercise. They will seeimprovements in their performance.

HIIT is the type of personal training we do at New Orleans Fitness Trainersat Austin Personal Trainers. People who start such a personal training program find that this is a program they can stick to..