High Intensity Interval Training – HIT

The most important thing about exercise is starting it and keeping at it consistently. If I could figure out how to give all of my patients motivation to exercise and motivation to keep going that would be great.

Some of my patients do exercise regularly. Nonetheless, even among these people, some are not getting the results that they desire and need. When I interview them further I find that they are not doing the right kind of exercise. Sometimes they are focusing on lifting light weights. Sometimes they simply do yoga. Other times they are younger woman and elect to just walk or something else equally mild.

I appreciate the motivation and discipline behind these practices. However as a physician, it is my job to advise you how to improve and maintain your health. By health I mean your resistance to cardiovascular disease, your energy, stamina, resistance to disease like infection and osteoporosis, your cognitive well-being and your emotional well-being. Certain exercises do these things better than others.

There is a whole industry built around exercise. Advisers are everywhere, in the form of magazine articles, television coaches, trainers, and the staff of various weight loss clinics and legitimate health clubs. How is one to know what to do?

I checked in with the American College of Sports Medicine’s Health and Fitness Journal and here is what I found. Read down to the bottom of the page where you will see a section on " Cutting Edge Thinking in Fitness."