When It Comes to Working Out, Sometimes Less Really Is More
With high-intensity interval training, most people assume the "more pain, more gain" rule applies: Doing more intervals produces better results than quitting early. But a new study published in the Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise suggests that there may be a point in a workout when more intervals is actually less beneficial than fewer. This, obviously, is good news for the time-crunched, lazy, and sweat-averse individuals trying to inch their way toward fitness goals. Also known as all of us.
First, note that the study was small and only tested "supramaximal" workouts (very high intensity) on exercise bikes. However, as scientists recorded the participants' improvement in fitness-measured as the amount of oxygen their bodies were able to use in one minute-something interesting happened. After every interval of biking, researchers found that after only two intervals, fitness improvement fell by an average of 5 percent in each subsequent sprint.
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"For the first time, we have evidence to suggest an indicator of fitness levels is improved more by doing fewer repetitions of high-intensity exercise," lead researcher Dr. Niels Vollard said of the study. Essentially, less was more in this particular study. And, if there's no proven point to prolonging the interval workout, why the hell keep doing it?
[h/t: Science of Us]
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