Sprint vs HIIT, & Why Most People’s Cardio Isn’t Working
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Cori Lefkowith, of “Strong at Every Age”, explains:
Let’s HIIT it!
Cardio needs both ends of the effort spectrum—mixing full-on sprints with walking (or equivalent gentle movement for other exercises) improves how efficiently our body burns fuel, builds endurance, and recovers.
However, not all interval training is equal: different movements and work-to-rest ratios completely alter outcomes, affecting strength work, fat loss, and recovery differently.
For example:
- Spring Interval Training (SIT) uses short, explosive, 100%-effort intervals that improve our speed, power, recovery, and body composition while keeping our metabolism responsive.
- High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) in general, however, is usually a little less than 100%, because working around 80% intensity can support fat-loss phases, longer circuits, and general conditioning when muscle building isn’t the main priority.
- Steady State Cardio (SSC), otherwise often simply called endurance training, also has its role, but long, continuous endurance work can become catabolic if overused, and as such, can break down muscle unless balanced with strength and sprint work.
How to identify a true sprint: per Lefkowitz’s definition, if you can hold the intensity for more than 30 seconds, it’s no longer a sprint; these sessions should stay short and high-quality.
Remember also that rest is important too, as without enough rest, you train fatigue instead of explosiveness, slowing the benefits.
It matters even more as we get older, because explosive training helps preserve lean muscle, balance hormones, improve reaction times, and counter menopausal shifts that encourage belly-fat storage specifically.
As for when you do want to take it a little easier, that too has its place, since walking lowers stress hormones, improves recovery, regulates blood sugar, and supports fat-burning without adding more stress.
In short, a mix of the above is needed, since high-intensity work is a positive stressor, but still stress; without walking and recovery, you’d soon hit diminishing returns.
For more on all of this plus some admittedly superfluous visual demonstrations (but hey, it’s a video) enjoy:
Click Here If The Embedded Video Doesn’t Load Automatically!
Want to learn more?
You might also like:
7 Kinds Of Rest When Sleep Is Not Enough
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The First Survivors of Alzheimer’s – by Dr. Dale Bredesen
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We previously reviewed this author’s “The End of Alzheimer’s”, which pertains to the very protocol whose (successful!) results this book examines.
It has generally been considered that Alzheimer’s is a case of “once you have it, it’s downhill until the end”. Of course, such was also true historically of many things that are now easily treatable, and there is no pressing reason to believe that Alzheimer’s should have any special immunity to the onwards march of science.
As such, the first part of the book is given over to 7 personal accounts, in which the titular first survivors of Alzheimer’s tell their own stories, one per chapter. After that, we get to part two, which is more about the science, on the small and large scale—so, practical advice directly applicable by individuals, and epidemiological considerations of more use to healthcare providers.
The style is, of course, varied—due to kicking off with seven (deeply!) personal accounts. To give an idea of tone, the first paragraphs of the first story are about the writer’s erstwhile plan to kill herself. The other six stories are also very human. And then, once we get into the second part of the book, it’s not quite so hard-science has The End of Alzheimer’s, but it’s also written with the sort of detachment that you might expect from a scientist writing about neurology and inflammation and metabolism and gene expression and so forth.
Bottom line: if you just want the clinical aspect, then you want “The End of Alzheimer’s”. If you just want practical advice, then you want the same author’s “The Ageless Brain”. But if you want both of those things plus a strong human element that makes it all very real, then this one’s the book for you.
Click here to check out The First Survivors of Alzheimer’s, and value the richness of life!
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Gut-Positive Pot Noodles
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Everything we consume either improves our health a little or worsens it. Pot noodles aren’t generally the healthiest foods, but these ones sure are! There’s quite a range of fiber in this, including the soluble fiber of the noodles themselves (which are, in fact, mostly fiber and water). As a bonus, the glucomannan in the noodles promotes feelings of fullness, notwithstanding its negligible carb count. Of course, the protein in the edamame beans also counts for satiety!
You will need
- ½ cup konjac noodles (also called shirataki), tossed in 1 tsp avocado oil (or sesame oil, if you don’t have avocado)
- 2 oz mangetout, thinly sliced
- 1 oz edamame beans
- ¼ carrot, grated
- 2 baby sweetcorn, cut in half lengthways
- 1 scallion, finely diced
- 1 heaped tsp crunchy peanut butter (omit if allergic)
- 1 tsp miso paste
- 1 tsp chili oil
- 1 tsp black pepper, coarse ground
- 1 tsp peeled-and-grated ginger
Method
(we suggest you read everything at least once before doing anything)
1) Layer a heat-resistant jar (mason jars are usually quite resistant to temperature changes) with the noodles and vegetables.
2) Combine the peanut butter, miso paste, and chili oil, black pepper, and ginger in a small bowl. Pour this dressing over the layered vegetables and noodles, and screw the lid on. Refrigerate until needed.
3) Add hot water to the jar and stir, to serve. If you prefer the vegetables to be more cooked, you can microwave (without the lid!) for a minute or two.
Enjoy!
Want to learn more?
For those interested in some of the science of what we have going on today:
- Making Friends With Your Gut (You Can Thank Us Later)
- Why You’re Probably Not Getting Enough Fiber (And How To Fix It)
- 10 Ways To Balance Blood Sugars ← today’s recipe makes a perfect high-fiber, low-carb starter, per the hacks here
- Capsaicin For Weight Loss And Against Inflammation
- Black Pepper’s Impressive Anti-Cancer Arsenal (And More)
- Ginger Does A Lot More Than You Think
Take care!
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Top 5 Anti-Aging Exercises
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There are some exercises that get called such things as “The King of Exercises!”, but how well-earned is that title and could it be that actually a mix of the top few is best?
The Exercises
While you don’t have to do all 5, your body will thank you if you are able to:
- Plank: strengthens most of the body, and can reduce back pain while improving posture.
- Squats: another core-strengthening exercise, this time with an emphasis on the lower body, which makes for strong foundations (including strong ankles, knees, and hips). Improves circulation also, and what’s good for circulation is good for the organs, including the brain!
- Push-ups: promotes very functional strength and fitness; great for alternating with planks, as despite their similar appearance, they work the abs and back more, respectively.
- Lunges: these are great for lower body strength and stability, and doing these greatly reduces the risk of falling.
- Glute Bridges: this nicely rounds off one’s core strength, increasing stability and improving posture, as well as reducing lower back pain too.
If the benefits of these seem to overlap a little, it’s because they do! But each does some things that the others don’t, so put together, they make for a very well-balanced workout.
For advice on how to do each of them, plus more about the muscles being used and the benefits, enjoy:
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Want to learn more?
You might also like to read:
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Cabbage vs Green Beans – Which is Healthier?
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Our Verdict
When comparing cabbage to green beans, we picked the green beans.
Why?
In terms of macros, there’s really no meaningful difference between them; despite having “beans” in the name of green beans, they still have only about the same protein, as well as similar fiber and carbs, for a tie in this first category.
In the category of vitamins, cabbage has more of vitamins B5, B6, B9, C, and K, while green beans have more of vitamins A, B1, B2, B3, and E, for a 5:5 tie in this round.
Looking at minerals, cabbage is not higher in any minerals, while green beans have more calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, selenium, and zinc, sweeping this round easily.
Adding up the sections makes for an overall win for green beans on the strength of the minerals, but by all means enjoy either or both, as diversity is best!
Want to learn more?
You might like:
Level-Up Your Fiber Intake! (Without Difficulty Or Discomfort)
Enjoy!
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Healthy Chocolate Fudge Energy Bites
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While these are quite high-calorie, they’re also high in protein, and the fiber and healthy fats flatten the blood sugar curve:
You will need
- 1 cup peanut butter
- 4 oz dark chocolate, melted (try to get dark chocolate with >80% cocoa, if you can; 85% is very respectable and 90% is perfect)
- ⅓ cup maple syrup (you can safely reduce this, or even omit it, if you prefer less sweetness)
- ¼ cup hazelnuts
- ¼ cup almond milk (or your preferred milk, but we recommend almond for taste and health)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Topping: ¼ cup hazelnuts, roughly chopped
Method
(we suggest you read everything at least once before doing anything)
1) Combine all the ingredients (except the topping) in a food processor, and blend until smooth.
2) Line a container (5″x7″ is a good size) with baking paper and spread the mixture evenly into it, pressing down gently.
3) Sprinkle the topping onto it, press that even more gently into it.
4) Refrigerate overnight (or chill it for 2hrs in the freezer).
5) Cut into cubes to serve; they can be served frozen or thawed, per your preference:
Enjoy!
Want to learn more?
For those interested in some of the science of what we have going on today:
- Eating For Energy (In Ways That Actually Work)
- “Let Them Eat Cake”, She Said…
- Why You Should Diversify Your Nuts!
- Plant-Based Milks—What’s Best?
- Chocolate & Health: Fact or Fiction?
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The Easiest Way To Take Up Journaling
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Dear Diary…
It’s well-established that journaling is generally good for mental health. It’s not a magical panacea, as evidenced by The Diaries of Franz Kafka for example (that man was not in good mental health). But for most of us, putting our thoughts and feelings down on paper (or the digital equivalent) is a good step for tidying our mind.
And as it can be said: mental health is also just health.
But…
What to write about?
It’s about self-expression (even if only you will read it), and…
❝Writing about traumatic, stressful or emotional events has been found to result in improvements in both physical and psychological health, in non-clinical and clinical populations.
In the expressive writing paradigm, participants are asked to write about such events for 15–20 minutes on 3–5 occasions.
Those who do so generally have significantly better physical and psychological outcomes compared with those who write about neutral topics.❞
Source: Emotional and physical health benefits of expressive writing
In other words, write about whatever moves you.
Working from prompts
If you read the advice above and thought “but I don’t know what moves me”, then fear not. It’s perfectly respectable to work from prompts, such as:
- What last made you cry?
- What last made you laugh?
- What was a recent meaningful moment with family?
- What is a serious mistake that you made and learned from?
- If you could be remembered for just one thing, what would you want it to be?
In fact, sometimes working from prompts has extra benefits, precisely because it challenges us to examine things we might not otherwise think about.
If a prompt asks “What tends to bring you most joy recently?” and the question stumps you, then a) you now are prompted to look at what you can change to find more joy b) you probably wouldn’t have thought of this question—most depressed people don’t, and if you cannot remember recent joy, then well, we’re not here to diagnose, but let’s just say that’s a symptom.
A quick aside: if you or a loved oneare prone to depressive episodes, here’s a good resource, by the way:
The Mental Health First-Aid That You’ll Hopefully Never Need
And in the event of the mental health worst case scenario:
The six prompts we gave earlier are just ideas that came to this writer’s mind, but they’re (ok, some bias here) very good ones. If you’d like more though, here’s a good resource:
550+ Journal Prompts: The Ultimate List
The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
While it’s not good to get stuck in ruminative negative thought spirals, it is good to have a safe outlet to express one’s negative thoughts/feelings:
Remember, your journal is (or ideally, should be) a place without censure. If you fear social consequences should your journal be read, then using an app with a good security policy and encryption options can be a good idea for journaling
Finch App is a good free option if it’s not too cutesy for your taste, because in terms of security:
- It can’t leak your data because your data never leaves your phone (unless you manually back up your data and then you choose to put it somewhere unsafe)
- It has an option to require passcode/biometrics etc to open the app
As a bonus, it also has very many optional journaling prompts, and also (optional) behavioral activation prompts, amongst more other offerings that we don’t have room to list here.
Take care!
Don’t Forget…
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