Want to improve your fitness quickly, but don’t have a ton of time to spend in the gym? You may want to consider high intensity interval training. This intense but effective method involves repeated bouts of maximal exercise followed by rest. Athletes have practiced HIIT for more than 100 years, and active fitness enthusiasts are finding that it produces results quickly. Many studies have found that HIIT can result in impressive increases in maximal oxygen uptake, endurance, glycogen storage, and aerobic enzymes. What normally would take six months or more can be done with just a few weeks of training! A review of literature by Martin Gabala and John Hawley concluded that HIIT is especially effective for improving health and wellness. High intensity training enhances the capacity of cells in the mitochondria (powerhouses of the cells), which are critical for longevity in good health. This is a terrific training method for people who want to build fitness quickly without spending too much time working out. The method is intense but effective.
(Cell Metabolism 25: 988-990, 2018)