Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Exercise intensity influences body composition in healthy older adults (2025)

maturitas.org

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

161–170 of 194 posts

Re: Exercise intensity influences body composition in healthy older adults (2025)

#161

Post by tacon »

anigbrowl wrote: post #159
tacon wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just ask the orthopedists down the street from any CrossFit box. Or their journal articles.

I don't think this is helpful. Crossfit appears to prioritize speed and # of reps above all else, and is notorious for people doing difficult exercises with terrible form to try to hit those targets. HIIT certainly emphasises intensity of effort and prefers relatively short rest periods between sets, but not at the expense of proper form. eg when I think of cross-fit weight training or callisthenics I think of lots o…

If you want to do Super Slow, great, but that is the original HIT, High Intensity (Strength) Training from Arthur Jones of Nautilus fame. I just went to YouTube and searched for HIIT. I don't see any videos of "moving slowly with form" (which is exactly what Super Slow is built around - 10 seconds concentric, 10 seconds eccentric, one set to failure).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Slow

https://youtu.be/2PdJFbjWHEU

Re: Exercise intensity influences body composition in healthy older adults (2025)

#162

Post by Daishiman »

Earw0rm wrote: post #101
nemomarx wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you want to increase endurance for running I think the general suggestion is to hit the track and do running? Get your mile time down or similar. In my personal experience I've found strength training better for losing weight than just cardio but any activity will help a bit. You'll really need to adjust your diet in some way for it though, or at least start counting and keep your calories steady as you do more ac…

Strength training has more of a positive effect on body composition. The problem with doing a lot of cardio is that you need muscle to burn calories (especially so without injury and as you get older), and too much medium intensity cardio will start to chew up lean mass. No harm in doing a bit of both though, especially if your goal is fitness/maintenance rather than maximum strength or a particular look.

I think it's a bit of an exaggeration. There's an interference effect but there's people who compete in natural bodybuilding that run marathons as well.

Re: Exercise intensity influences body composition in healthy older adults (2025)

#163

Post by jr3592 »

knappe wrote: post #152
jr3592 wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "but hiit also causes a lot of damage in a lot of ways" Please do explain this. Technically weight lifting (muscle hypertrophy) also causes "damage" but in a controlled an beneficial way.

I really think you're being pedantic to the point of detriment. Runner's knee is a very well known condition in, wait for it, runners! https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/patellofemora...

I think you're wrong. I've been running with good form, proper nutrition, and rest, for over 40 years, averaging 20-30 miles a week, and have absolutely zero knee issues.

I think you're running a risk here of turning more people off from running, and doing more harm than good, by warning people of a risk that while possible, is unlikely to affect them.

Generally these types of degenerative conditions have other underlying conditions driving them, and are not simply the result of running. We are born to move.

Re: Exercise intensity influences body composition in healthy older adults (2025)

#164

Post by jr3592 »

tdiff wrote: post #148
jr3592 wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "but hiit also causes a lot of damage in a lot of ways" Please do explain this. Technically weight lifting (muscle hypertrophy) also causes "damage" but in a controlled an beneficial way.

I would guess they mean hiit can traumatize e.g. joints or cardiovascular system, especially for the elderly.

Most people don't understand how important, even vital, proper rest is. Injuries are almost always the result of overuse and/or insufficient rest.

HIIT itself is not dangerous, or even bad for you, if you spend the time to learn about it and how to incorporate into your life safely. If you're out of shape, and don't train regularly, go out and try HIIT you're going to have a bad time.

Re: Exercise intensity influences body composition in healthy older adults (2025)

#165

Post by jimjimjim »

tacon wrote: post #156
fsloth wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"hiit also causes a lot of damage in a lot of ways" Oh! I didn't know about this. Are there any references you could quote?

Just ask the orthopedists down the street from any CrossFit box. Or their journal articles.

Don't conflate hiit with crossfit. Crossfit is just one (although well known) type of hiit. There are many other type of hiit activities without the training style of crossfit.

Re: Exercise intensity influences body composition in healthy older adults (2025)

#166

Post by robocat »

proee wrote: post #93

So warning about super-high intensity workouts. For a good while I would sprint hard as possible up 8 flights of stairs everyday instead of taking the elevator. I would do this multiple times per day (3,4 sometimes 5) with no warm-up/cool-down . Each time I would try to push for a PR, figuring might as well go for it! One day, after about a year of doing this, I noticed my heart rate at the top felt a little off. I t…

> PR

= Personal Record

> AFIB

= Atrial fibrillation = a type of irregular heart rhythm

> HIIT

= High-Intensity Interval Training

Re: Exercise intensity influences body composition in healthy older adults (2025)

#167

Post by nkmnz »

meroes wrote: post #106
alfiedotwtf wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So that’s for building muscle, but what about if you wanted to lose a few kilos and increase endurance for long distance running? What would be the way to go to optimise your time?

Longer slower running burns more fat because your body isn’t forced to use as much glycogen as faster paced running. I guess the answer for optimizing time is to get a home treadmill if removing the commute to a trail/track will make the timing work.

This is incorrect. Each minute of fast running bruns more fat than a minute of slower running. Longer slower running burns more fat only because you can do it for a longer period time, increasing total energy expenditure over the whole workout. If you want to maximize fat loss, you still need to maximize energy expenditure. If the available time is fixed and low, HIIT is the way to go. If the available time isn't fix or high relative to your capability to do HIIT, slowing the pace to fill the whole available time is the way to go.

Re: Exercise intensity influences body composition in healthy older adults (2025)

#168

Post by kazinator »

aix1 wrote: post #146
kazinator wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are two exercise intensity thresholds related to respiration: VT1 and VT2 (ventilatory threshold). Everything from minimal activity far below VT1 to VT2 (a.k.a. "lactate threshold", LT, a.k.a. "anaerobic threshold", AT) is "aerobic". Near the VT2 limit, very little fat is used compared to glucose. Fat burning proportions as high as 95% are only reached under very light activity. (And/or in glycogen depleted exe…

This article has a graph from a lab test: https://knowledgeiswatt.substack.com/p/20-120-vs-90-gh-of-ca... I thought it would help illustrate what you're saying but, gosh, those Y axes aren't making things easy to interpret. For those willing to do the mental arithmetic, 1g of FAT is 9 kcal and 1g of CHO is 4 kcal. :) P.S. It also only starts at 150W.

To be putting out 240W at VT1 seems insanely fit.

Re: Exercise intensity influences body composition in healthy older adults (2025)

#169

Post by Etheryte »

robotresearcher wrote: post #144
Etheryte wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is no correlation between exercise intensity and likelihood of injury, this is nonsense. You could e.g. just as well make one wrong move when going for a one rep max.

Going for one rep max is intense. If it weren't, you could get a better max.

That's not what exercise intensity means, clearly you're not even remotely familiar with the domain.

Re: Exercise intensity influences body composition in healthy older adults (2025)

#170

Post by tsoukase »

Anaerobic exercise, which typically is done with weightlifting, converts muscles to a huge anabolic gland. Do squats/deadlifts with good technique and reap lifetime benefits. Add aerobic as habit, like use feet/bicycle and stairs at every occasion and you will be fine. First order effects are better shape and stamina, that lead to second order like better cognition, mood and even less cancer.
Post reply on HN