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This Exercise is Insanely Popular – Yet Could Be Dangerous

According to fitness experts, it’s expected to be 2014’s biggest workout trend–but it’s a trend that has them worried.

Called high intensity interval exercise, this new exercise movement has become popular thanks to home workout programs such as P90X, Insanity, and Crossfit.

And it’s expected to only become bigger once the new year arrives.

“We’ve never seen something be introduced to the market and catch on so fast,” says Walt Thompson, regents’ professor of kinesiology at George State University, who helped author a new report about this workout’s popularity in partnership with the American College of Sports Medicine. “Exercise can be boring, and this is especially attractive for young people looking for an alternative.”

Why People Love HIIT

Surveying more than 28,000 fitness professionals, Thompson says even people who aren’t fitness-savvy–such as middle-aged women and sedentary people–are most likely to try some form of high intensity interval exercise next year, probably as part of an impromptu New Year’s resolution.

According to experts, high intensity interval training, or HIIT, refers to workouts where periods of intense exercise are alternated with periods of rest or easy activity. Because of its intensity, people usually get to exercise less–making it irresistible to a lot of people.

But this has Thompson worried.

“I’m a little concerned, I think, is probably a good way of putting it,” says Thomspon. He adds that the increase in HIIT workouts this year have also correlated with another not-so-healthy statistic–knee, hip, and other joint injuries have begun to rise.

And this often occurs because people who normally don’t exercise jump into HIIT programs going as fast as they can–which, inevitably, leads to disaster.

“The interesting thing to me is that it’s name, the emphasis, that puts people off–it’s not called low-intensity training,” says Michael Mantell, a behavioral scientist for ACE Fitness. “Because the recovery or rest period is just as important as the period of intensity, it helps your heart become stronger, because you have a rapid heart rate and then dropping it creates ventricular remodeling–it helps your heart with faster cardiac output.”

To stay safe, Mantell recommends starting with something low-impact to start if you don’t regularly exercise, such as speed walking or jumping rope. Alternating periods of high activity with periods of low activity, even if it’s something as simple as working, will work to get your heart pumping, says Mantell.

“If you’re interested in trying interval training, but you haven’t been regularly exercising, keep it slow to start,” says Mantell. “You can even do this on a walk around your neighborhood: Speed-walk for half a block, and then walk slowly again for a block.”

Of course, don’t forget the cardinal rule: Before starting any exercise program, make sure to check in with your local healthcare provider first.

Readers: Have you tried high intensity interval exercise before? What are your favorite types of HIIT workouts?

Sources:
High Intensity Workouts Will Rule 2014 Say Fitness ProsToday.com
Is Tabata All That It’s Cracked Up to Be?ACEFitness.org

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