Exercise for weight loss
Today, high-intensity interval training (HiiT) is a highly advertised health trend, especially by those who are into a healthy lifestyle. There are five important modules of HiiT; interval intensity, interval length, recovery duration, recovery intensity, and workout volume. It is a type of workout that involves repeating high-intensity intervals followed by short periods of rest or low-intensity exercise (Atakan et al., 2019). One of the essential aspects of HiiT is the intensity during which the athlete produces maximal power output (MPO) (Castro et al., 2021, p.2). Muscles work vigorously during high-intensity exercise, but what about people who suffer from muscle loss? Will they benefit from HiiT?
Sarcopenia is mostly a geriatric illness characterized by a progressive decrease of skeletal muscle mass and function. It is one of the most common health problems among the elderly, and it raises the risk of impairment. Age, gender, amount of physical activity, and the presence of chronic disease are all risk factors for sarcopenia (Papadopoulou S., 2021, p.1). Sarcopenia is multifactorial disease largely contributed to low levels of physical activity, sedentary life, and an old age. “Low levels of physical activity are among the main risk factors for sarcopenia along with the muscle fiber decline that begins in midlife” (Papadopoulou S., 2021, p.1). However, several studies indicate that physical exercise can balance muscle loss, particularly with high-intensity training (Hayes et al., 2021). HiiT has been proved to be a safe, feasible, and successful therapeutic technique for patients to enhance their muscle structure and function in the clinical setting. Muscle stress during HiiT and endurance training (ET) is one of the methods that may improve capillarization in skeletal muscles which stimulates angiogenesis in older adults (Leuchtmann et al., 2020, p.6). This may give a proper stimulus and stress for muscle growth and may also be beneficial in muscle loss prevention in adults and sedentary people and adolescents.
Purposely, applying various intensities during training, muscles are put to stress, giving them a stimulus to grow. High-intensity activities may also prevent muscle loss which is also beneficial for sedentary people. Muscle maintenance is another factor, and any physical activities that stress the muscle promotes muscle maintenance.
written by Dmitriy Chernov, doctorate student, studies in kinesiology
References:
Atakan, M. M., Li, Y., Koşar, Ş. N., Turnagöl, H. H., & Yan, X. (2021). Evidence-Based Effects of High-Intensity Interval Training on Exercise Capacity and Health: A Review with Historical Perspective. International journal of environmental research and public health, 18(13), 7201. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18137201
Castro, A., Duft, R. G., Ferreira, M., Andrade, A., Gáspari, A. F., Silva, L. M., Oliveira-Nunes, S. G., Cavaglieri, C. R., Ghosh, S., Bouchard, C., & Chacon-Mikahil, M. (2019). Association of skeletal muscle and serum metabolites with maximum power output gains in response to continuous endurance or high-intensity interval training programs: The TIMES study - A randomized controlled trial. PloS one, 14(2), e0212115. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0212115
Hayes, L. D., Elliott, B. T., Yasar, Z., Bampouras, T. M., Sculthorpe, N. F., Sanal-Hayes, N., & Hurst, C. (2021). High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) as a Potential Countermeasure for Phenotypic Characteristics of Sarcopenia: A Scoping Review. Frontiers in physiology, 12, 715044. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2021.715044
Leuchtmann, A. B., Mueller, S. M., Aguayo, D., Petersen, J. A., Ligon-Auer, M., Flück, M., Jung, H. H., & Toigo, M. (2020). Resistance training preserves high-intensity interval training induced improvements in skeletal muscle capillarization of healthy old men: a randomized controlled trial. Scientific reports, 10(1), 6578. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-63490-x
Papadopoulou S. K. (2020). Sarcopenia: A Contemporary Health Problem among Older Adult Populations. Nutrients, 12(5), 1293. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12051293
Home Training to Improve Endurance High Intensity Interval Training: A guide to HIIT workouts for endurance. (2021). Training4Endurance. https://training4endurance.co.uk/improve-endurance/high-intensity-interval-training/
