Question concerning vigorous exercise

[Thick Face Black Heart]

They say vigorous exercise has a much better health effect compared to slow and easy workouts that take up hours.

Question is, how do you define vigorous? Is it if your body feels its vigorous? Like if I find it very strenuous to run 2.4km in 17 minutes, but a guy a couple of decades younger than me finds it a breeze and doesn't even break out a sweat. WIll I get the same health benefit as that young chap who does a 2.4km in 9 minutes, or is only his beneficial to himself but mine is not beneficial at all?

 

[Leongsam]

You should do intervals which are defined by "perceived effort".

I'm familiar with numerous cycling interval workouts but if you're doing other endurance sports, I'm sure you can find something suited to your sport or activity

http://www.active.com/cycling/articles/high-intensity-interval-training-for-beginners

The key is to go ALL OUT... till you feel like death for the period specified. Then recover for the specified period... then repeat.

 

[Thick Face Black Heart]

The key is to go ALL OUT... till you feel like death for the period specified. Then recover for the specified period... then repeat.

Have tried it before. Very, very painful when you're doing it but you feel great after the workout. I guess cycling or swimming would be suitable. Doing HIIT with running very nearly sawed my kneecaps in half.

 

[Leongsam]

Have tried it before. Very, very painful when you're doing it but you feel great after the workout. I guess cycling or swimming would be suitable. Doing HIIT with running very nearly sawed my kneecaps in half.

No pain no gain.

I do a lot on my stationary trainer during winter. 35 minutes x 5 days a week is all I need to maintain my fitness.

 

[Kuailan]

No pain no gain.

I do a lot on my stationary trainer during winter. 35 minutes x 5 days a week is all I need to maintain my fitness.

Sam come join us when u r in SG on Sunday at Upper Thomson former Long House
in the morning! see u there!

 

[Jah_rastafar_I]

Obviously the definition of vigorous is different from person to person. If someone does an exercise and finds it a breeze it isn't vigorous to him. Take an old person who finds walking up some stairs tiring that's vigorous to him.

 

[Jah_rastafar_I]

Have tried it before. Very, very painful when you're doing it but you feel great after the workout. I guess cycling or swimming would be suitable. Doing HIIT with running very nearly sawed my kneecaps in half.

ROFL try doing that with weights afterwards. I go for non stop vigorous runs on my treadmill and then weights afterwards everyday

 

[canonfairy]

no need to exercise to keep fit, just have lots of sex and regular masturbation, if you want vigorous go for 3some, lagi even more vigorous mass orgy, its like those group aerobics workout

 

[Leongsam]

Obviously the definition of vigorous is different from person to person. If someone does an exercise and finds it a breeze it isn't vigorous to him. Take an old person who finds walking up some stairs tiring that's vigorous to him.

"Vigorous" can easily be quantified with a heart rate monitor in today's high tech world. It makes no difference whether you're 9 or 90.

Once max heart rate and lactic threshold rates are established, every effort is measured against these benchmarks.

 

[yellowarse]

First, more it not better. Second, fitness for what? – Tour de France, marathon competition, or extended lifespan?

Recent studies have shown that regular low-intensity exercise prolongs lifespan, while too much high-intensity exercise actually reduces lifespan.

Matsumura et al (2014) found that moderate runners (<20 miles/wk) actually lived longer than high-mileagers (>20 miles/wk) and non-runners:

Too Much Running Tied to Shorter Lifespan

The Copenhagen City Heart Study (2015) studied more than 5,000 joggers over 12 years and found that light joggers (1 to 2.4 hrs/wk) had the longest lifespan, followed by moderate joggers. Heavy joggers had the shortest longevity, on par with non-joggers.

Light Jogging Extends Lifespan, While Heavy Jogging Rivals Risks of "No Exercise At All"

Exercise physiologists define 'high intensity' as more than 75% of your max heart rate, and "low intensity" as 50–65% of your max heart rate. (HRmax = 220 – age)

The American Heart Association recommends a regimen of 50 min of low-intensity cardiovascular exercise 3 times/week (150 min/wk), or 30 min of high-intensity cardiovascular exercise 3 times/week (90 min/wk), for optimal cardiovascular benefit and longevity.

End of day, everything in moderation.

 

[laksaboy]

No pain no gain.

I do a lot on my stationary trainer during winter. 35 minutes x 5 days a week is all I need to maintain my fitness.

Was it vigorous?

 

[Leongsam]

End of day, everything in moderation.

Peak Fitness: This Simple Trick Stops Aging in Its Tracks

November 30, 2012 | 104,932 views

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By Dr. Mercola

Almost from the beginning of time, people have been looking for a fountain of youth, or at the very least a magic potion that can keep you feeling and looking forever young.

The potions usually come in a bottle or a jar — or from plastic surgery — but as it turns out, we've been searching in the wrong places.

Instead of running to the nearest outpatient center for plastic surgery or to the store to buy a "potion," we should be looking no further than our running shoes and workout clothes.

​

Exercise is One of the Best Ways to Slow Aging

According to new research published in the American Journal of Physiology,1the best way to stay young is to simply pick up your feet and start exercise training. The training triggers mitochondrial biogenesis, a decline of which is common in aging. This reverses significant age-associated declines in mitochondrial mass, and in effect, stops aging in its tracks.

This is not the first time researchers have linked exercise to mitochondrial changes. A 2011 review in Applied Physiology, Nutrition and Metabolism2 points out that exercise induces changes in mitochondrial enzyme content and activity, which can increase your cellular energy production and in so doing decrease your risk of chronic disease.

Aside from impacting your skeletal muscle and fat tissue, researchers noted that exercise induces mitochondrial changes that may also benefit your liver, brain and kidneys. The mitochondria is the "power plant" of your cells, responsible for generating the energy that drives all metabolic functions.

Increasing mitochondrial activity is extremely important because free radicals, which are toxic byproducts of metabolism as well as exposures to chemicals, pollutants and other toxins, can overwhelm your body's defenses, leading to oxidative damage to cells and tissues that can destroy cellular proteins, lipids and DNA; this process often leads directly to the loss of mitochondrial function. In the long-term, irreversible damage in the mitochondria can occur, leading to:

• Impaired ability to utilize carbohydrates and fat for energy
• Insulin resistance
• Lower threshold for physical exercise
• Excessive weight gain
• Accelerated aging

At least two additional studies, one in the Journal of Applied Physiology3 and the other in Neuroscience,4 also showed that exercise induces mitochondrial biogenesis in the brain, with potential benefits such as reduction or reversal of age-associated declines in cognitive function and helping to repair brain damage following a stroke, respectively.

​

What's One of the Best Anti-Aging Exercises?

Make no mistake — virtually all forms of exercise are beneficial, provided you're challenging yourself without overdoing it. Overdoing it, particularly with long bouts of traditional cardio, can actually damage your mitochondria and should be avoided. According to fitness expert Ori Hofmekler

"When done chronically, it [aerobics] causes accumulated oxidative stress in the mitochondria with increased risk of oxidative damage. And when chronic aerobic overtraining comes along with inadequate nutrition (such as with those dieters who obsessively run on a treadmill to burn excess calories they get from a bad diet) the results could be even worse...

The combined effect of bad nutrition with bad training can be extremely destructive, and may lead over time to irreversible damage in the mitochondria along with a total metabolic decline."


​

The end result is not to shun all forms of aerobic exercise, but to learn how to do it wisely. This brings me to my most preferred form of anti-aging exercise, which is Peak Fitness, or high-intensity interval training. High-intensity interval-type training boosts your body's natural production of human growth hormone (HGH), a synergistic, foundational biochemical that addresses the serious muscle loss and atrophy that typically occurs with aging.

Your production of vital human growth hormone increases by up to 771 percent during a Peak Fitness workout because you are stimulating your fast muscle fibers, which are rarely used during most exercise programs. The higher your levels of growth hormone, the healthier and stronger you will be. Once you hit the age of 30, you enter what's called "somatopause," at which point your levels of HGH begin to drop off quite dramatically. This decline of HGH is part of what drives your aging process, so maintaining your HGH levels gets increasingly important with age.


​

 

[Seee3]

Yes, high intensity exercise is the best way to improve our fitness especially when we are young. One who stick to long slow jog will find their level of fitness stagnated and improvement to their fitness is painfully slow. By pushing beyond our limit and then let the body rest and recover, the fitness level will reach a new height.

I used to do that in my younger days and it worked like magic. However, once I hit 50, it becomes tricky. I pushed beyond my limit and rested. However, my body wouldn't recover. I needed much longer rest and instead of improving, my fitness deteriorated due to the excessive rest needed. I realised that I had pushed way beyond my limit.

As we age, what is beyond our limit is no longer the same as before. Today, I learnt to listen to my body. Monitoring of pulse rate, etc becomes too technical. Measurement of beyond my limit becomes a pretty subjective way. The limit also becomes lower and lower over the years despite my regular jogging. I have learnt to accept it as part of aging.

 

[yellowarse]

The end result is not to shun all forms of aerobic exercise, but to learn how to do it wisely. This brings me to my most preferred form of anti-aging exercise, which is Peak Fitness, or high-intensity interval training. High-intensity interval-type training boosts your body's natural production of human growth hormone (HGH), a synergistic, foundational biochemical that addresses the serious muscle loss and atrophy that typically occurs with aging.

Am familiar with Dr Mercola's writings. There's currently no doubt that HIIT improves both skeletal and cardiac muscle function through physiological changes at the mitochondrial level, and is a good alternative to sustained endurance-based running (prolonged running, cycling, rowing, etc.) The key advantage of HIIT over traditional aerobic training is time: less time invested for similar health/performance benefits.

However, the jury is still out on whether HIIT improves longevity vis-à-vis low-intensity running. Most current studies focus on the impact on lifespan of low-intensity vs high-intensity high-volume running. While high-intensity definitely leads to better peak athletic performance, the paradox is that it may actually shorten the lifespan because of other ('wear-and-tear'?) factors.

Mercola is extrapolating (without empirical evidence) that certain beneficial physiological changes (increased HGH) seen in HIIT must lead to longer lifespan. It probably does, compared to non-exercisers, but is it better than low-intensity jogging in the long term for longevity?

That said, most doctors are advocating low-volume HIIT as a viable alternative to aerobics in view of health benefits (improved muscle function, decreased glucose tolerance, weight loss) and the busy lifestyle of many patients today.

 

[Seee3]

Am familiar with Dr Mercola's writings. There's currently no doubt that HIIT improves both skeletal and cardiac muscle function through physiological changes at the mitochondrial level, and is a good alternative to sustained endurance-based running (prolonged running, cycling, rowing, etc.) The key advantage of HIIT over traditional aerobic training is time: less time invested for similar health/performance benefits.

However, the jury is still out on whether HIIT improves longevity vis-à-vis low-intensity running. Most current studies focus on the impact on lifespan of low-intensity vs high-intensity high-volume running. While high-intensity definitely leads to better peak athletic performance, the paradox is that it may actually shorten the lifespan because of other ('wear-and-tear'?) factors.

Mercola is extrapolating (without empirical evidence) that certain beneficial physiological changes (increased HGH) seen in HIIT must lead to longer lifespan. It probably does, compared to non-exercisers, but is it better than low-intensity jogging in the long term for longevity?

That said, most doctors are advocating low-volume HIIT as a viable alternative to aerobics in view of health benefits (improved muscle function, decreased glucose tolerance, weight loss) and the busy lifestyle of many patients today.

I still think that HIT is good. However, the problem is when they over do it without listening to their body. For example, young athletes taking steroid to reach a higher level of intensity is damaging their body. For average layman, ego makes them push way beyond their physical limit which ends up shortening life span. We need to accept that our fitness level continues to drop with age. HIT can slow down the drop. However, overdoing it will shorten our life. A friend ran the ultra marathon and succumbed to a simple flu after that. I guessed he had "hit too much".

 

[Leongsam]

I used to do that in my younger days and it worked like magic. However, once I hit 50, it becomes tricky. I pushed beyond my limit and rested. However, my body wouldn't recover. I needed much longer rest and instead of improving, my fitness deteriorated due to the excessive rest needed. I realised that I had pushed way beyond my limit.

Everybody is different but there is no age barrier to fitness.

In our cycling club races, I've been beaten on numerous occasions by a 75 year old and there are many riders in their mid to late 60s who are as strong as a horse.

I used to ride 6 days a week. I now find that I can achieve the same fitness levels with only 4 to 5 days a week and I've also cut mileage from 400km a week to 200km per week.

This gives plenty of time for recovery.

 

[Unrepented]

Depending on your age, medical and physical conditions. High Intensity Interval Training may not be suitable for you, even though it is currently touted as so.

It also depends on what is your objective in exercise, followed by which part you want to train.

For example, if you want to up your heart rate and just sweat, and have knee problem, try weight training for upper body with high reps and short rest periods. It will remind your body to rejuvenate...etc.

Do what suits you best, given your objectives set base on your own current condition. IMO.

Have tried it before. Very, very painful when you're doing it but you feel great after the workout. I guess cycling or swimming would be suitable. Doing HIIT with running very nearly sawed my kneecaps in half.

 

[yellowarse]

As we age, what is beyond our limit is no longer the same as before. Today, I learnt to listen to my body. Monitoring of pulse rate, etc becomes too technical. Measurement of beyond my limit becomes a pretty subjective way. The limit also becomes lower and lower over the years despite my regular jogging. I have learnt to accept it as part of aging.

Agree that as we age, recuperation times get longer and peak performance dips. I used to do punishing 30-min tempo runs (anaerobic threshold, ~90% VO2 max) and long endurance runs with great improvements in my 5 km, 10 km and 12 km times. But in the past couple of years, I've found my times slowing, and my body needing more rest in between workouts. Also, there's wear and tear in the knees and feet.

So, age is not a barrier but we need to train smarter as we get older – reduce volume, more rest, cross-training (I do the elliptical or stationary bike on non-running days) and interval training. If you're just concerned about cardiovascular health rather than fitness targets and times, then a slow 50-min run (or brisk walk) 3 times a week will do the trick.

 

[Seee3]

Everybody is different but there is no age barrier to fitness.

In our cycling club races, I've been beaten on numerous occasions by a 75 year old and there are many riders in their mid to late 60s who are as strong as a horse.

I used to ride 6 days a week. I now find that I can achieve the same fitness levels with only 4 to 5 days a week and I've also cut mileage from 400km a week to 200km per week.

This gives plenty of time for recovery.

Thanks for sharing. The difference in the type of exercise matters. Cycling unlike jogging has no impact force on the body, is a more suitable form of cardia vascular exercise as one ages. Probably it is the damage to the bones and joints that is not recovering fast enough when HIT is used in jogging. Time for me to change my exercise.

 

[Seee3]

Agree that as we age, recuperation times get longer and peak performance dips. I used to do punishing 30-min tempo runs (anaerobic threshold, ~90% VO2 max) and long endurance runs with great improvements in my 5 km, 10 km and 12 km times. But in the past couple of years, I've found my times slowing, and my body needing more rest in between workouts. Also, there's wear and tear in the knees and feet.

So, age is not a barrier but we need to train smarter as we get older – reduce volume, more rest, cross-training (I do the elliptical or stationary bike on non-running days) and interval training. If you're just concerned about cardiovascular health rather than fitness targets and times, then a slow 50-min run (or brisk walk) 3 times a week will do the trick.

Thanks for sharing. There was a period where I stopped exercising totally. I developed knee problems with excruciating pain to the extend that I could hardly walk. The doc said the knee muscles have weakened and the pain is caused by rubbing and damaged cartilage. A friend thought me stretching exercise for the knees to strengthen the muscle there. It works, the pain reduced to a level where I could jog slowly again. I continued and the pain finally disappeared. Many advised that jogging is bad for the knee and to take up cycling or swimming. Doesn't do cycling because it is not safe to cycle here. A relative also has same knee problem took up swimming but he is still walking in pain. Just wondering if the stationary bike can help strengthen the muscles that helps to pull the knees apart.