⭑ Interval training doesn’t need to be exhausting ✔ try MIIT All strength to Ukraine 🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦 Hello, Knees. Like many of you, I've started paying more attention to my knees. Now that I'm in the athletics club every week and running in organised competitions, knee health has become a top priority. It's our muscles that keep the moving parts of our knees in line and flowing smoothly without pain. As they weaken, our knees start to rub in the wrong spots. I found three simple exercises which activate one of the most important muscles to maintain knee alignment and avoid pain. See item #4. High-intensity interval Training (HIIT) is hard work and doesn't suit most people. Moderate-intensity interval Training (MIIT) has come into vogue, and research supports its value as an alternative to HIIT - see item #1. If you are physically capable of doing both HIIT and MIIT, how would you choose between the two? Check my guide - see item #2. Don't be fooled by social media, though; MIIT is an alternative but not a substitute for HIIT - see item #3. // 01 Interval Training Benefits With Gain Without The Pain High-intensity Interval Training is associated with hard-core fitness folk. There's a reason for that, because exercising at 80 - 95% of your maximum heart rate is hard. However, recent research into interval training has begun to support the idea that high-intensity efforts may not be necessary for you to achieve significant health benefits. Overall, these studies suggest that Moderate-Intensity Interval Training can be an effective and possibly more accessible alternative to high-intensity training, especially for those at different stages of fitness or with chronic conditions. ⇒ Both HIIT and MIIT have demonstrated similar improvements in cardiorespiratory fitness, body composition, and metabolic health markers - proportional to the volume of work e.g. effort X time. What this means for you: I can understand if HIIT is not for you. But rather than just meandering through your exercise program or postponing starting one, consider adding structure by laying out a series of moderate-intensity routines. Having a structure means that you have to think less about what to do each time you go to the gym and that you also have a framework for measuring your progress. Here's a Moderate Intensity Interval Training structure:
Mix up your activities and aim for 3 times a week. Related: Even Very Active Runners Lose Leg Strength Without Resistance Training // 02 How To Choose Between HIIT and MIIT - A Guide Regular readers will know that I often say that the best exercises are the ones you'll stick with. How can you determine if HIIT or MIIT might be a good choice for you to start, or to switch between one and the other? They both offer substantial benefits. ⇒ The best choice will depend on individual circumstances and preferences - your physical capability, health status, personal goals, and lifestyle factors. What does this mean for you? Here’s a playbook to help you choose between doing HIIT or MIIT, taking into account your current fitness, your goals, the time you have available, the risk of injury, psychological factors and social preferences:
⇒ Tip: some research found that people find HIIT more manageable in their schedule and stick with it compared to people who choose MIIT but could not keep up the extra time commitment. @Medium - Follow me on Medium ↗, covering ⭑food, ⭑brain, ⭑body, ⭑life // 03 MIIT Isn't The New HIIT - It's A Different Option Some headlines proclaim Moderate Intensity Interval Training as the new HIIT, implying it is almost as effective. It's not. It's true to say that MIIT delivers substantial benefits for everyone when done consistently, especially if you have not been so active in the past. ⇒ However, HIIT delivers unique benefits over MIIT - particularly superior cardiovascular and metabolic health improvements. What this means for you: If HIIT suits you, then you gain the following benefits as compared to MIIT:
⇒ HIIT is a highly effective training method for improving cardiovascular and metabolic health in less time than MIIT. Caveat: Doing HIIT once a week is sufficient when we are older, as more often can lead to unnecessary stress, which counteracts the benefits. In other words, more is not better. // 04 Why Quad Activation Matters To Prevent Knee Pain Our exercise of the week is... targeted for the Vastus Medialis Oblique (VMO) quad. Activating your Vastus Medialis Oblique muscle means engaging and strengthening a specific part of the quadriceps muscle in your thigh, which is crucial for stabilising your knee. The VMO is located just above and to the inside of your knee and plays a significant role in keeping your kneecap (patella) properly aligned when you move your leg. A lack of alignment leads to knee pain, exacerbated by walking and running. ⇒ However, with targeted strengthening exercises, you can protect your knees and enjoy pain-free mobility. What this means for you: The VMO is an integral part of the quadriceps group that plays a pivotal role in stabilising your knee. Strengthening the VMO not only helps in preventing knee injuries but also aids in quicker rehabilitation post-injury. Here are three effective exercises designed to target this key muscle:
Incorporating these exercises into your routine 2-3 times a week will significantly enhance the strength and stability of your knees. ⇒ Keep testing your ability to achieve “terminal knee extension”. This ability helps fully extend the knee and plays a critical role in shielding the cartilage from impacts, thus averting conditions like osteoarthritis. See this short, excellent video. Related: Avoid Ankle Injuries And Gain Balance Better With These Four Everyday Simple Exercises Thanks for reading! P.S. If you are not yet subscribed to my free exercise app, try now ↓↓↓ Free forever. Opt-out any time. Opt-in by CLICKING HERE PLEASE SEND ME THE EXERCISES. NOTE: YOU ONLY NEED TO SUBSCRIBE ONE TIME. >> My Latest Blog Post: Energise Your Golden Years: Boosting Your Desire to Exercise with Gut-Healthy Foods About the newsletter: Do you think it can be improved? Have a story idea? Want to share about the time you met Chris Hemsworth, or your questions about how to live longer better? Send those thoughts and more to me at walter@bodyagebuster.com '4 Most Valuable' is a weekly newsletter from Walter Adamson. If you like it, please forward to a like-minded soul. Someone forward this to you? You can subscribe from this page. Each of these weekly emails has 4MV in the subject line to help you filter them and search for previous ones. |
"I empower mid-life men and women to make the choice to live as actively and as independently as they can, for as long as they can", Walter Adamson Get access to my weekly research that I don’t share elsewhere. “My wife and I both read your articles each week, and I have to say there is so much confusing data out there, but yours is a great source, well researched, scientific and always relevant.” — Steve Ridgway, subscriber.
⭑ Doing to much too soon will derail your exercise program ✔ Take a step back⭑ Skipping warm-up and cool-down stresses your joints ✔ Allow time⭑ Plateaus are natural, longer when you're older ✔ Learn to love them⭑ Good posture and controlled movements get you the best return on exercise ✔ All strength to Ukraine 🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦 Hello, I trust you're well and staying active. The newsletter is a different format today, just one item, with 10 hints to avoid mistakes that can reduce your gains...
⭑ Maintaining muscle health is one key to healthspan ✔ Three tips⭑ Inflammaging - what is it and how to tame it ✔ Gets worse as we age⭑ You can track your body's capacity to resolve stress ✔ I find it interesting⭑ Healthier back shoulders and biceps with the dumbbell row ✔ All strength to Ukraine 🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦 Hello, I trust you're well and keeping active. Summer's here down under. We’ve had some weird nights with the highest temperature for the day at 5 am! Perhaps that's why my...
⭑ These doctors will fact-check your medical queries ✔ For free⭑ How walnuts improve your brain health and your blood pressure ✔ Research⭑ Regular bad dreams? Talk to your doctor about it, here's why ✔⭑ The squat-calf raise combo is a fabulous muscle builder - not difficult ✔ All strength to Ukraine 🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦 Hello, I trust you're well and keeping active. Ouch! Running for the train last Wednesday I tore my nearly repaired hamstring again - set me back a few months. The irony was that...