“HIIT” or Hit on your joints?
For most people in their 70s, “High Intensity Interval Training” (HIIT) is nothing new – for them, it’s old wine in a new bottle carrying a new moniker.
It all started as the new rave in the early 2000s and everybody started jumping onto this new HIIT bandwagon because of new fat-loss studies which were published then, seemingly showing better results with HIIT vs steady-state cardio when it came to burning fat in young women.
In fact, HIIT has been around since the mid 60s. Athletes were made to train with short periods of high intensity-explosive anaerobic exercise with brief periods of a recovery phase (rest). This repetitive sequence would continue for around 20 to 30 minutes depending on individual ability – to a state of complete exhaustion that would trigger the anaerobic pathways of energy production.
HIIT, without a doubt, has exponential payoff in regard to overreaching stamina, explosive strength and anaerobic power – which is good, but the question is, whether certain people should avoid HIIT or it is safe for everyone?
The majority of folks just don’t have the joint integrity to get through such types of explosive moves at the pinnacle. Most of them are out of shape, deconditioned and with poor mechanics – and for such people HIIT should come with warning signs.
When you see trainers using jump boxes, speed ladders, turning tyres upside down and then doing jump squats right after all that – that’s when I have the biggest bone to pick with them.
I see dysfunction in their clients – their form looks terrible – they huff and puff, and they seem to be really out of sorts. These trainers are just trying to exhaust their clients to make them burn as many calories as possible without taking the probability of injury into consideration.
For first-timers who may have a myriad of underlying stress issues like sleep deprivation, work pressure, running a home, kids, finance, etc; HITT is not appropriate for their bodies – no matter how effective it seems in theory.
The take away lesson is: Condition your body first and then take the hit – and remember not to do it more than twice or thrice a week. Continue doing the steady-state cardio and weight training on the rest of the days.
Zareer Patell
