Ep.91 - Original Recording
===
Sheree Beaumont: [00:00:00] The reversal of aging, right? They actually found that in these sedentary 50 year olds, so these people who had started out not really exercising actively had reversed their heart aging by 20 years. 20 years. If we sit here and think, okay, too late for me. I'm getting too old. Like, a lot of the limiting factors.
I'm in my forties, I'm in my fifties, I'm in my sixties. It's not doable for me anymore. I'm not as young as I once used to be. It's the same thing that I really advocate for when it comes to strength training in women. Start now, like the best time to start, if it wasn't 10 years ago, is now.
Welcome to the Wild and Well Collective Podcast where we believe empowered health is your superpower. We have combined our expertise in medicine and nutrition to bring you the latest research expert insights and success stories of people on a mission to live a big life. So buckle up and get ready to learn how to live wildly well.
Christa Elza: Welcome back to another episode of The Wild and Collective. And today we're gonna be talking about HIIT [00:01:00] exercises, high intensity exercise that a lot of times can be poo-pooed amongst women. In terms of is it good for cortisol? It is high intensity. Does it have more detrimental effects?
Does it not? Who is it for? Is it only for younger people? But this particular study that was in the Journal of Physiology in 2019 talks about how there was a group of 61 sedentary, but healthy middle aged people. Okay? So they took 61 people who really didn't exercise regularly. The average age was about 53, and they had these participants do four days of high intensity interval training and they were consistent.
So they did this over two years. Okay, so that's a key component here. They were consistent with it over two years and it was interesting. What came of this [00:02:00] and this conversation is a little bit about around the positive side of hit exercise. I've never said that it's not positive, but there are definitely times in an individual things like, where are you at in your cycle for women?
Have you had injuries? Like, are these things sometimes detrimental, are they not? But this particular study was pretty interesting. They measured three main things. One of them is the Starling Effect. And that's how the heart actually stretches and how it responds with to increase blood return.
So they looked at that they looked at the arterial cardiac BioFlex, which is how the heart rate adjusts to the blood pressure changes. So one has to do with the stretch and the pump, and then one has to do with how the heart responds to the increased rate. And the other one they looked at was arterial elasticity here.
So how flexible the arteries are to regulate blood pressure. So they looked at some pretty intense things [00:03:00] in terms of cardiovascular no cardiovascular characteristics. And it was interesting because what they found in this study is that. These midlife people who you think, okay, it's just declined from here.
Right? It's just downhill from here. They actually improved their cardiac resistance or their resilience. They improved their cardiac health. Actually, they almost age reversed their heart in a sense, which I find very, very fascinating. 'cause anything, anytime we can turn back time a little bit in anything in our body.
It's worth really investigating. So the results of this is that the starling mechanism, again, that's the stretch response, right? The, it actually increased in the exercise group. So the heart's ability to respond to that more volume in the heart was quicker. It was better. That means the heart muscle itself was stronger.
The barrow reflux function, remember [00:04:00] that's the one that is how the heart rate adjusts to the blood pressure changes, and that also improved significantly. So the heart's response was much better. There was not a whole lot of significant change in the arterial elasticity the stretch. And I would say that may have to do with hormones such as estrogen, testosterone.
Those are some elements there. There's, I'm sure many elements that go to the elasticity of the artery as we age. They didn't find a lot of significance there, but the overall cardiovascular regulation improved by 1.34 times in the exercise group only. So that's significant to me. I think this brings up our discussion and kind of revisiting the.
Importance of integrating some kind of high intensity interval training in our weekly regimen.
Sheree Beaumont: Oh, a hundred percent. And let's think about like what HI is. So HIIT stands for High Intensity Interval Training. And I [00:05:00] just really wanna reiterate a point that Krista mentioned this is, this study in particular highlights.
The reversal of aging, right? They actually found that in these sedentary 50 year olds, so these people who had started out not really exercising actively had reversed their heart aging by 20 years. 20 years. So again, to, if we sit here and think, okay, too late for me. I'm getting too old. Like, a lot of the limiting factors.
I'm in my forties, I'm in my fifties, I'm in my sixties. It's not doable for me anymore. I'm not as young as I once used to be. It's the same thing that I really advocate for when it comes to strength training in women. Start now, like the best time to start, if it wasn't 10 years ago, is now. Right.
That's where we really start to see massive change and so. What they did, and I think this is what is really important also to understand, is that there wasn't just the hit. So they did two hits a week, two endurance based trainings a week and a strength session. And so the hit training, again to understand what high intensity interval training [00:06:00] is, it's when you are operating at 90 to 95% of your maximal heart rate.
So the way I liken it to like, if you've ever done a Les Mills class, they do things like grit or sprint, and those are some of the higher intensity ones You've also may have heard of. Fart leg training, which is where you were doing. And a sprint from lamppost to lamppost. So you sprint from one lamppost to the next, then you might walk or jog the next one.
Then you sprint and jog and sprint and jog. Or you may have heard of something called Tabata, which is a Japanese pr, but it came originated from Japan. And it's where we do. This is super high intensity and it's where the principle originated from. You really are going to be sitting in that 90 to 95% of that heart rate positioning.
Is where you have the four rounds, 20 seconds on, 10 seconds off, and you repeat. So that is, it's only for a short period of time. In fact, a lot of the research, initially when we started looking into HIIT training, when I did my degree in exercise, physiology was really understanding that. This only, we only did it for 20 minutes.
Right. And that's why if you [00:07:00] look back on a lot of the research, people still see incredible results doing hit for not a long period of time. In fact, some of it was even done for four minutes, but at a super high a a conditioning level. So a lot of athletes might train in that space. It is a really, really hard to get you to yourself to that max, max, max level.
So if we think about, in the US you've got things like berries, you've got things like orange theory even. SoulCycle to a degree is if you've got the interval training part in there, it's really gonna support it. And this is where a lot of people go wrong, is they're going for the high intensity, but they're missing the interval part.
So they're missing the wrist period. I used to teach the sprint program, the spin cycle class for Liz Mills and. One of the biggest issues that I would have, and I would get off the bike and that's part of the training, I would be in front of the people asking them to rest. Because if you aren't allowing yourself to rest during these interval periods, you are also not gonna be getting the benefit.
So understand [00:08:00] that the reason that the heart was adaptable, the reason that resilience increased, the reason that we they were able to see such positive changes is because they were able to take themselves super high. To that maximal heart rate effort and then their flexibility, just like with the metabolism, your flexibility to get back down.
So that is what's happening. That's what's actually strengthening and creating change. You're moving to a space of uncomfortability and you are training, and then you are resting to allow your body to. Push back up. It's very similar to how you always want to make sure after exercise, your heart rate's dropping back down as quickly as possible.
That shows how how cardiovascularly fit you are. So. Not only did they do, and again, I wanna reiterate two hit sessions a week so they're not pushing their body to the absolute limit. This is what we always preach as personal trainers. You aren't doing hit five times a week. This is where you see the hormones go haywire.
People gain weight, not lose weight. Cortisol go through the roof. Injuries, inflammation. [00:09:00] All of the negative things that have been associated with HIIT is often because people take this information and they run with it and they're either just doing purely high interval training or they're doing high interval training.
Sorry, purely high intensity training without the intervals, or they're doing constant HIIT training where they're doing the intervals, but it's four or five times a week and they're burning themselves to the ground.
Christa Elza: Yeah, it's interesting that it doesn't require as much as you. Think in terms of how long it's more of an intensity base versus time-based and Yes, like the rest is just as important as the activity.
I wanna reiterate the benefits to this because the sterling effect, like we talked about, that stretch, when you improve this, when you have this, you are conditioned in this way and you're regularly doing these workouts, the ability to have that stretch. It really helps with recovery. It really helps if you are struggling and you tend to retain fluid in your lower legs, let's say in your [00:10:00] body because the body is quicker to respond to higher volumes, right?
So the intake and outtake of things. So it helps you in your day-to-day life. And then in terms of that barrow reflex function, it also helps you with being able to be more calm in the nervous system because the body's responding. Quicker to wrap, rapid heart rate. So let's say you're nervous and something's happening and you almost got in a car accident, or you've got a deadline that you're hitting and you're just stressed out about it.
The body quickly responds to that, activates more of that. Your body's more sensitive to that reflex of, oh, the heart rate is going up. But then it can also calm down much quicker so you don't have this maintained. High heart rate. One thing that you can look at when you see if you're wearing a heart rate monitor, how well your heart rate goes back down after exercise.
That is partly the action of that barrel reflex and that your heart's ability to say, okay, we don't need to be this, we don't need to keep the heart rate up at [00:11:00] 120. We rapidly go back down because we're in shape. We can have stress and then we can recover well, and that also has an impact on.
Your nervous system regulation you have better vagal tone, which can stimulate all sort, the parasympathetic that rest and relax response. So there it goes. Beyond just the cardiovascular is what my drive home here is. The focus of the study was definitely on cardiovascular function, but what's cool about it is that when we have more resilience, cardiovascularly.
It affects other parts of our body. It affects our day-to-day life in many other ways besides just this. That being said, I think, one of the things that this stood out with to me was that it wasn't a short-term study, it was a two year study. Right. So, we wanna pay attention to that, that it's not always.
How much, how long you're working out each day. It's the consistency of showing up every single day, doing a combination of resistance and then integrating some HIIT [00:12:00] workouts. After reading this, I'm like, man, I need to get back to more. Hi. I do a lot of it on my. Peloton, I'll use that and that counts as well.
You're definitely doing Tabata. You can do high intensity where you rest and then you push. But there's so many other things that, that we can do. And it doesn't have to be as intense as jumping on a 24 inch box jump, although that might be appropriate for some people. But Bures or lunges, lunge, jumped.
Or even jumping jacks or tucks, just standing there, jump roping, all of those things. There's so many different ways that you can do something intense that suits what you're capable of doing, whether that's through injury or age. There's something for everyone. And the key that they found in the study was really consistency, regular progressive, high intensity aerobic work.
Not just casual walking, not just going on a mosey. This is intense. This is not comfortable. Whether you're doing 30 seconds on, 30 seconds off, or you're doing Tabata, which is 20 seconds on 10 seconds off. The work time [00:13:00] is work time. Like it's not comfortable. You do not wanna be doing this long term.
You barely wanna do it for 20 or 30 seconds, but then you take advantage of that pause and overall this should last you about four to eight minutes each day, which to me, anybody has time to do that, right?
Sheree Beaumont: Oh, a hundred percent. This is what I would quite often finish client sessions with when I was personal training.
Like, and again, I would time it around where they're at in their cycle for the females that I was working with, but it, it can be lean into it. Do I feel good to do this day? You can do your strength training for say, 40 minutes and then tack on 10 to 15 if you've got that capacity. Or it might be like you say, even four to eight minutes at the end where you're just like, how can I absolutely get myself to that, to that level of 90 to 95% of my maximal heart rate?
And really, really push myself. And I just wanna, talk to this because if you're someone that is experiencing fatigue, if you've been told you've got high blood pressure, if you've at an increased risk, if you're someone that has those increased risk factors for stroke or for heart disease, this is something that they showed in this study [00:14:00] actually hit, was able to reverse.
The changes in sedentary people. So people that hadn't been doing any exercise that had those risk factors or those symptoms actually were able to reduce or reverse that completely purely by doing this hit. So to me, this is amazing. And like Kristen mentioned, this goes far beyond heart health. I know I still go.
Yeah, heart health, like I'm 30, what does it really matter? And we have had a beautiful podcast episode talking about the importance of identifying cardiovascular risks in a younger age. But what really stood out to me was my VO two max improved something that we were talking about with your flexibility, like when we're talking about the heart flexibility.
That is the heart rate variability. So if you've got an aura ring, if you've got an Apple watch, a Fitbit, all of that tracks your HRV. So if you've heard this term and you're not quite sure what that means, we are talking about the flexibility of you being able to switch into a different state and supporting your nervous system.
So blood pressure, heart rate, like resting heart rate, all [00:15:00] of that improved. In doing this work, and like Krista said, it's the consistency that's key. And it's not sexy. It's not fun like everyone wants to do. Okay, I'll do this for eight weeks, I'm gonna have a great result. Sure, you're gonna get the benefits.
You're probably gonna feel like you have more energy. You will probably notice differences, maybe not in the direct biomarkers or heart changes to this, to this degree. You will see a difference. But just like with eating healthy, just like with taking supplements, just like with exercise, you have to do it day in, day out, or in this case five times a week and it's not the hit five times a week.
It's just moving your body, not just doing the things that feel comfortable, but putting yourself outside the comfort zone and you will see changes and that the beautiful thing about exercise. Is, the more that you do it and get into a habit and make this a lifestyle, make this part of your routine, the more your body craves it.
Like I cannot like actively feel, I actually feel. Stuck, sticky, ick, ugh. Like I, I can't even explain, I don't have the words for it. If I haven't [00:16:00] done at least like seven and a half thousand steps a day and got my movements in, I do not feel like myself. And so it's getting your body to that point. We were made to move.
We were not made to be sedentary. And we've done a whole episode on how. Sedentary lifestyle and sitting as the new smoking, et cetera, but understanding that our ancestors were running, they were either out there hunting or gathering. They were on their feet all the time. They were doing some sort of movement.
We weren't made to be sitting for eight hours behind a desk or behind a computer screen. So. Getting this ingrained into you, like it doesn't have to be long, like Krista mentioned. It just has to be consistent
Christa Elza: a hundred percent. I think that that is definitely the key. I know for myself, I'm, I just recently had a surgery and I haven't been able to work out, and it's driving me absolutely bonkers.
But that's because my day-to-day I integrate daily workouts, and it does not have to be, I don't personally have time anymore. There was a time in my life where I had time to spend an hour to an hour [00:17:00] and a half at the gym. That's not my reality where I'm at in life right now, but I'm very consistent normally with 30 to 40 minutes working out.
And so it does not have to be crazy, crazy intense every single day. And even if you just have time for a warmup, an eight minute hit and a cool down, that's probably 20 minutes of your day. And when you look at the studies like this. It's a no brainer. One of the key factors, if you're looking at health span, you're looking at.
Longevity, you're looking at living a long, healthy life exercise is absolutely foundationally one of the key components to that. And so it's quite frankly, a non-negotiable. And this study just goes to reiterate that high intensity definitely has its place. And so I think that we should all.
Take this to heart. We'll put the in the show notes. We'll go ahead and put a link to this study so you can read it for yourself, because I think it's really interesting to hear it from people, but then also just read through the study and read some [00:18:00] more of the details if that appeals to you.
So I hope you found this helpful. Thank you for being here, and we'll see on the next episode.
