Exercise intensity is associated with cardiometabolic health

Post by MrSkelter » Fri, Sep 11, 2026, 9:53 AM UTC

jandrewrogers wrote: post #29

YZF wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

HIIT can have a pretty quick impact on your VO2MAX but that is going to level off. As others have said you will want a more balanced routine in the long run. It is also possible you were over-training in your "moderate" intensity or conversely not increasing the load/distance enough. Training over years should result in good improvement even without HIIT. You will need to put a lot more time in.

I have a pretty diverse training load these days. Hiking, mountaineering, running, plus a few sports and some resistance. While I have overtrained in the past on running in particular, it was mostly due to lack of diversity. Nonetheless, none of those things puts the same load on the body as HIIT. To be clear, I was objectively in good cardiovascular condition before adding HIIT. My resting heart rate has been in the…

Post by Brendinooo » Fri, Sep 11, 2026, 10:58 AM UTC

lloeki wrote: post #27

jandrewrogers wrote: post #9

As an anecdote of one, I was doing moderate intensity endurance exercise for a couple years with only modest improvements in basic cardiovascular metrics that kind of flatlined over time. As an experiment, I switched to high-intensity interval type training for a couple months, which required about half the time to do. All of my cardiovascular metrics immediately changed in a strongly positive way. When I did the old…

That sounds exactly like what one should do for, say, couch to 10k: build a solid base in "zone 2" (low aerobic), which also serves not just as a cardio foundation but also builds the body's ability to withstand effort and impact. Then once the base is built, to make any progress one needs stronger, more focused stimulus, so you introduce interval training at high aerobic (tempo and threshold paces) as well as anaero…

Post by manmal » Fri, Sep 11, 2026, 11:06 AM UTC

YZF wrote: post #23

manmal wrote: post #14

I like sprinting a couple times up our hill, ca 10s each, 4-6 times. It’s full out, and when I‘m untrained (like now), I‘m quite exhausted afterwards. But the dopamine boost I get from this is immense. It lasts 24-48h. I‘m in a general good mood for this period. Sometimes, a little more competitive than normal - that’s a downside. Normal jogging or long walks don’t have this effect, at all.

A long race will do it just fine. AKA Runner's High. I also do hill sprints. I try to do one [HIIT] workout a week and also some longer runs. Hill sprints tend to be safer then sprinting on flat surfaces. Last time I did my HIIT sprinting on level ground my knee didn't really like that at all. A stationary bike (like the "assault bike") is even safer. Or you can just do burpies. People who don't run and haven't sprin…

Post by hackingonempty » Fri, Sep 11, 2026, 11:34 AM UTC

jeffbee wrote: post #34

It's interesting that they characterize a 30-second cycling effort as "all-out" when any cyclist knows it's impossible to go "all-out" for that long. You can go really all-out for a few seconds before your whole metabolic process needs to switch modes. A 30-second effort has to be paced. "All-out" intervals are very effective but for me they mean 4 seconds out of every 30 seconds.

Post by jjcob » Fri, Sep 11, 2026, 12:22 PM UTC

manmal wrote: post #57

brzezmac wrote: post #55

how come the ones who live the longest never do the HIIT treadmill hamster wheel training, but rather frequent light-to-moderate walks, bicycle rides, garden work or the like?

Can you really do HIIT on a treadmill? It doesn't sound safe to sprint on a machine. Re your observations. Are you referring to elderly people? I'm not sure this study is about them. My mental model of this mechanism is that relatively young people can choose between e.g. long distance running and sprinting, and that the latter will yield better cardiac outcomes.