Shannon Clinic

We are often asked by patients which exercise approach is best for them, should it be a high intensity approach either through their own training or part of a group or lower pace longer workouts. The Shannon Clinic Melbourne Chiropractic and Sports Care is here to educate you on what the literature tells us about high intensity interval training (HIIT) and moderate continuous training (MCT) so you can determine what works best for you.

The Benefits of Exercise

There is a wealth of research available today showing the benefits of exercise on health resulting in a raft improvements including;

Improved cognition

Improved sleep

Reduced risk of chronic preventable diseases including diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease, certain cancers

Improvements in osteoarthritis pain and symptoms

Improvements in depression and anxiety

Improved bone health

Improved quality of life

The current physical activity guidelines for good health recommend at a minimum 150 mins per week of moderate to vigorous exercise or 75 mins per week of vigorous exercise. The question then becomes what type of exercise is better, high intensity interval training (HIIT) or moderate continuous training (MCT)?

What is HIIT and MCT?

True HIIT is often a variation of what is known as a Wingate test where an individual is asked to go “all out” in a 30 second sprint and then has a 3 to 4 minute slow recovery before going all out again for 30 seconds. This is usually repeated 4 to 6 times. During the “all out” sprint the individual needs to keep their heart rate (HR) above 85% of their maximum. This entire workout might take 12 to 15 minutes to complete and is performed 2 to 3 times per week.

MCT involves an individual operating at a lower level of intensity around 60-70% of their maximum heart rate however, they need to continue to exercise for longer, usually around 60 to 90 minutes. An example of this would be to go for a steady ride on a push bike. Unlike HIIT, MCT needs to be undertaken 4 to 5 times per week.

Purely on face value there are pros and cons to both; HIIT although very time efficient can be very unpleasant for those who don’t like working at such high intensities. Whereas MCT is more comfortable in terms of the effort required however, it is more time consuming.

What Are the Benefits of HIIT and MCT?

Overall the consistent findings within the literature indicate HIIT is as good and probably superior to MCT in terms of improving cardiovascular fitness, especially V02max in a variety of cohorts including young athletes, adults, obese and diabetic individuals. For body composition, reduction in blood lipids (fats) and % of body fat, HIIT and MCT achieve similar results. In respect to weight loss, exercise is important however, diet is the key to long term sustainable weight loss. For long term glucose metabolism MCT appears superior to HIIT.

What Exercise is Right for You?

On the face of the findings it could be argued that MCT is as effective overall as HIIT, therefore we should all be training at moderate intensities for longer; however, time is a factor that is omitted in this argument. Similar health benefits can be achieved through HIIT to MCT in a fraction of the time. This means for athletes they can focus more on sports specific skills training, while for those who are busy or do not enjoy exercising can still gain meaningful health benefits without needing to dedicate hours a week exercising.

The important message to take away is that neither HIIT nor MCT are vastly superior to the other; both provide meaningful health benefits in terms of body composition, cardiovascular fitness, blood lipids, glucose metabolism. At the end of the day, it is about making sure you find an exercise approach that works for you which allows you to achieve at least 150 mins of moderate to vigorous exercise or 75 mins of vigorous exercise per week of to improve you overall health and life expectancy. This is something melbourne sports chiropractor Dr. Shannon advocates and discusses with all of his patients. It is also an area that alarmingly too many people fall well below this mark and often are not doing any exercise at all.

For more sports and exercise medicine related information from the Shannon Clinic head over here to our blogs.

If you are interested in ways to improve your athletic performance we highly recommend having a read of our blog on NMN supplementation, as well as mental imagery. To book an appointment to see our melbourne city chiropractor or massage therapist you can below Our sports chiropractic clinic is located on Collins Street in the Melbourne CBD and is easily accessible by trams on Collins Street, Swanston Street, Bourke Street and Elizabeth Street, by train via Flinders Street Station and parking at Federation Square.

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The Benefits of HIT/HIIT Training

Exercise and physical activity are extremely important for our overall health and wellbeing. With evidence showing physical activity improves; quality of life, sleep, cognition, physical function, insulin sensitivity, while reducing the risks of; clinical depression, dementia, a raft of cancers and chronic preventable diseases, as well as anxiety, blood pressure, weight gain and falls. You can read more about the benefits of physical activity in Melbourne city chiropractor Dr. Shannon’s article on Exercise Medicine.

The current recommendations for physical activity are for 150 minutess per week of moderate to vigorous exercise, this means exercising to an intensity where it is still possible to maintain a conversation but with difficulty. High intensity (with/without intervals) training is a great way of efficiently reaching that 150 minutes per week mark with a host of added benefits.

High Intensity Training (HIT) / High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)

HIIT refers to exercise that occurs in frequent short burst or “sprints” of high intensity exercise, with recovery periods. The sprints can last from 30 seconds to 4 minutes, with recovery periods lasting anywhere from 1 to 4 minutes and repeated sprints of 2 to 6 cycles per session. For true HIIT to be achieved, heart rate (HR) needs to reach 85-90%+ of max HR during the sprint effort. This is the key difference with moderate continuous training (MCT) where HR will only reach 60-70% of max HR.

Why HIT/HIIT?

In healthy individuals HIT/HIIT programs have been clearly shown enhanced exercise capacity, muscle strength and muscle oxidation compared to MCT. It may also improve cardiovascular fitness and function, as well as anxiety and depression severity. It has been associated with improvements in these same variable in individuals with cardiovascular disease, spinal arthritis and multiple sclerosis, in addition to reducing the disability associated with these diseases.

In obese and overweight individuals it is as effective in the short-term as MCT at modest reductions in body fat and waist circumference, which suggests it may be a more time efficient way to exercise. Additionally there is also evidence showing it is well tolerated and has greater improvements in disability and exercise capacity in individuals with nonspecific low back pain when compared to MCT.

What Type of HIT/HIIT Program?

One of the appealing features of HIIT programs are how time efficient they are, especially when compared to MCT. In addition to this, HIIT programs appear to result in similar or greater endurance performances and VO2max (a measure of fitness) when compared to MCT.

Cardiovascular protocols utilizing short intervals (30 seconds or less), for 5 minutes or less, performed 4 or fewer times per week will assist in developing VO2max in the general population. However, the greatest improvements come from longer sprint intervals (2 minutes or longer), higher volume (15 minutes or longer) over a longer duration (4-12 weeks). Resistance training HIT protocols are typically defined as more than 70-80% of a 1 repetition maximum, performed at a maximum of 1 set of 12 repetitions.

Finally, for anyone considering a HIIT program it is important to note that even though HIIT appears to be safe for most individuals, consulting a health/medical practitioner to determine if a HIIT program is safe for you is extremely important before you start any HIIT program.

To book an appointment with Melbourne city sports chiropractor Dr. Shannon or remedial massage therapist Paula Pena you can book below. You will find our Melbourne chiropractic clinic located on Collins Street in the Melbourne CBD opposite the Melbourne Town Hall.