Flex Australia – June-July 2017

FLEXONLINE.COM.AU | FLEX 9

TRAINING

HIIT IT!

AstudyfromtheUniversity

of Stirling, Scotland, showed

that doing fewer intervals

during high-intensity interval

training may produce better

cardiovascular results than

pounding out cripplingly intense

intervals. Researchers found

thatforsubjectsdoingtwo

sprintstothemaxonexercise

bikes, any subsequent sprints

doneonthebikedroppedthe

overall improvement in fitness

–asmeasuredbyVO 2 max, or

the maximum amount of oxygen

thebodycanuseinaminute

–byabout5%.

Sometimes a workout just isn’t in the cards, but as long as

yougettothegymatleastonceortwiceaweek,you’llstill

be able to keep yourself in the healthy lane, says a new study

out of the University of Sydney. Scientists analysed data on

more than 60,000 people and discovered that active adults

— including those who exercised only once or twice a week —

had about a 30% lower risk of death from all causes than

adults who pretty much never got off their arses.

THE BEST INTERVAL

Researchers at the University of

British Columbia put three groups —

non-exercisers, regular exercisers and

people with diabetes — through sessions

of both interval resistance training and

interval cardio. The finding: interval

weight training improved blood vessel

function more than interval cardio.

PERCENTAGE THAT A

RECENT STUDY FROM

THE UNIVERSITY OF

CALIFORNIA SAN DIEGO

SCHOOL OF MEDICINE,

US, FOUND A SINGLE

20-MINUTE SESSION OF

EXERCISE CAN BOOST

THE IMMUNE SYSTEM.

ET FIT FAST

ercise scientists at McMaster

iversity in Canada put the stairs to

e test to find out how much work you

ed to put into climbing them to get a

od health benefit. They had subjects

her go all out on a StairMaster or on

e stationary bike for three sessions

20 seconds each and, for the second

ase, attack either one or two flights

stairs in the same manner but for

ree 60-second periods. Both protocols

creased peak oxygen uptake: by 12%

the first phase and 7% in the second.

YES, IT’S GOOD FOR YOU
Research from the University of British
Columbia, Canada, found that just one
session of interval weight training can
improve blood vessel function in those
with type-2 diabetes significantly. All
subjects showed improvement, but the
type-2 diabetes group saw an average
KEVIN HORTON; PAVEL YTHJALLof a 2.4% increase in blood flow.

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JUST THE FACTS