1.Interval training can cut exercise hours

08:24 AEST Fri Feb 26 2010

By Maria Cheng (ninemsn.com.au)

People who complain they have no time to exercise may soon need another excuse.

Some experts say intense exercise sessions could help people squeeze an entire week's workout into less than an hour.

Intense exercise regimens, or interval training, was originally developed for Olympic athletes and thought to be too strenuous for normal people.

But in recent years, studies in older people and those with health problems suggest many more people might be able to handle it.

If true, that could revolutionise how officials advise people to exercise - and save millions of people hours in the gym every week.

It is also a smarter way to exercise, experts say.

"High-intensity interval training is twice as effective as normal exercise," said Jan Helgerud, an exercise expert at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology.

"This is like finding a new pill that works twic

e as well ... we should immediately throw out the old way of exercising."

Intense interval training means working very hard for a few minutes, with rest periods in between sets. Experts have mostly tested people running or biking, but other sports like rowing or swimming should also work.

Helgerud recommends people try four sessions lasting four minutes each, with three minutes of recovery time in between.

Unless you're an elite athlete, it shouldn't be an all-out effort.

"You should be a little out of breath, but you shouldn't have the obvious feeling of exhaustion," Helgerud said.

In Britain and the US, officials recommend that people get about two-and-a-half hours each week of moderate exercise.

Helgerud says that time could be slashed dramatically if people did interval training instead.

He said officials have been too afraid of recommending intense training, fearing it might be too much for some people.

"I'm much more afraid of people not exercising at all," he said.

"Inactivity is what's killing us."

When compared to people on a normal exercise routine, like jogging, research has shown those doing interval training can double their endurance, improve their oxygen use and strength by more than 10 per cent, and their speed by at least five per cent.

Even studies in the elderly and in heart patients found they had better oxygen use and fitness after doing interval training.

Still, most studies have been done in young, healthy adults, and experts advise people to consult a doctor before starting any fitness program.

For Adamson Nicholls, a 36-year-old Londoner and martial arts enthusiast, interval training is a way to boost his endurance so he can outlast sparring opponents.

"It's a shortcut to explosive fitness," he said, adding the training results in snappier and heavier punches.

Using interval training, Nicholls got into top shape last year in about six weeks, using weekly 45-minute sessions. He estimates the same level would have taken about three months via regular training.

Experts say that's because intense bursts of activity are precisely what the body needs to build stronger muscles. Traditional workouts lasting an hour or more simply don't push the body enough.

"A lot of the (benefits) from exercise are due to a stress response," said Stephen Bailey, a sports sciences expert at the University of Exeter.

"If you disturb your muscles, there's an imbalance created and your body will start signalling pathways that result in adjustments."

Bailey said intense bursts of exercise help the body to convert one type of muscle fibre into another type that uses oxygen more efficiently and is capable of exercising a lot longer. Even though interval training only takes a few minutes, its effects last for hours.

"You've exercised at such a high intensity that you're going to create a massive disturbance in your muscles," Bailey said.

That creates a higher metabolism for several hours afterward, which the body will bring down by burning fat and carbohydrates.

Helgerud and others predicted that as further studies confirm interval training is safe for wider populations, authorities will include it in their exercise guidelines.

"This is definitely the way forward to save time on your exercise," Nicholls said.

"The results are worth it."

Referenced www.ninemsn.com.au 28/2/20010

2.Obesity costing $56b a year: study

14:58 AEST Sun Feb 28 2010 (www.ninemsn.com.au)

Just a quarter of Australians are at a healthy weight, according to a study which also put the total cost of caring for the nation's overweight and obese people at more than $56 billion a year.

Direct health care and other related costs totalled $21 billion, according to a study published in the Medical Journal of Australia, while government subsidies cost another $35.6 billion a year.

Prof Stephen Colagiuri, Professor of Metabolic Health at the University of Sydney, and his co-authors analysed data from the Australian Diabetes, Obesity and Lifestyle study, collected in 1999-2000 and 2004-2005.

He said the research took account of all costs - borne by individuals and the tax-paying public - which flow from the problem of being overweight or obese.

"Traditionally, studies report only costs associated with obesity and rarely take overweight into account," Prof Colagiuri said in a statement.

"We found that the direct cost of overweight and obesity in Australia is significantly higher than previous estimates.

"As the number of overweight and obese adult Australians continues to increase, the direct cost of overweight and obesity will also continue to rise.

The study took in body weight date from 6,140 typically middle-aged people, just over half (54.1 per cent) of whom were women.

Just 24.7 per cent were deemed to be of normal healthy weight, with 32.4 considered overweight and 42.9 per cent rated as obese according to their body mass index score or waist circumference.

Prof Colagiuri said it was important to account for both overweight as well as obesity as both were associated with an increased risk of health problems, and cost.

Healthcare costs flowing from the nation's overweight and obese population include ambulance services, hospital visits, prescription medication and items such as blood glucose self-monitoring meters and strips.

The research also took account of the cost of transport to hospital, supported accommodation and special food while the government subsidies included aged, disability and veteran pensions, mobility and sickness allowances and unemployment benefits.

There is financial incentive at individual and societal levels for overweight and obese people to lose weight and/or reduce their waist circumference, Prof Colagiuri said.

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