Sprint your way fit

April 7, 2011

If you follow me on Twitter, you probably notice that I gripe about hill training once a week or so. Truth is, I don’t hate it…it’s just a tougher workout and I have a mild dislike for it, but in reality it’s not absolutely excruciating.

What I really, really, really don’t like? Speed training. Which is why I didn’t want to read the details on the findings of this study (in fact, I was very tempted to just gloss over it and block it from my mind — in the same way I try to pretend my eyes haven’t seen tweets spoiling the finale for Top Chef).

This research published in the American Journal of Human  Biology set out to find whether high-intensity workouts versus endurance workouts offer equal cardio benefits, and I had a sinking feeling it was high-intensity that would win–and it did.

Both groups experienced cardiovascular benefits, however, the high-intensity group experienced them in having worked out 15 percent of the time of the endurance group.

I’ll take working out less efficiently over more time to get similar healthy-heart results–such is the hate-on I have for sprints.

Filed under: Fitness Swellness,Healthy Swellness

Tags: cardio, cardiovascular health, heart health, high intensity intervals, hill training, running, speed training