Prioritize physical activity and actively avoid a sedentary lifestyle, as remaining sedentary poses the greatest risk to your health.
To achieve the most significant health benefits, focus on elevating your physical activity or VO2 max level out of the low fitness range.
Embed short bursts of vigorous effort (e.g., taking stairs quickly, walking briskly) into your daily routine and activities, known as Vigorous Intermittent Lifestyle Physical Activity (VILPA).
Aim for at least three to four minutes of VILPA daily, as it’s associated with substantial reductions (25-30%) in all-cause mortality risks.
Engage in VILPA-like activities regardless of your current exercise habits, as it provides protective health benefits for both non-exercisers and committed exercisers.
Use VILPA or exercise snacks to simultaneously break up prolonged periods of sedentary behavior, offering a double benefit for health.
Select an exercise type you genuinely enjoy, whether vigorous intermittent or continuous moderate, as personal preference is crucial for consistent adherence.
To be healthy even on busy days and achieve more with less time, focus on greater intensity in your workouts, making every minute count.
Incorporate High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) into routines to create more physiological stress in a short period, yielding nearly exponential benefits for the time invested.
Engage in more vigorous or high-intensity exercise for shorter periods to achieve similar improvements in VO2 max, especially if time-pressed.
If moderate-intensity exercise isn’t improving your VO2 max, consider engaging in more vigorous exercise, as it can eliminate non-response in some individuals.
Strive for higher cardiorespiratory fitness, as elite levels are associated with a nearly 80% lower risk of mortality compared to less-fit peers.
Engage in high-intensity exercise, even above traditional ‘fat-burning zones,’ to improve your overall ability to oxidize fat in the long term.
Engage in regular exercise to support the routine maintenance and turnover of cellular processes, promoting overall mitochondrial health and capacity.
Focus on increasing mitochondrial content in your muscles, which enhances both fat and carbohydrate oxidation capacity, achievable through various methods including short, intensive exercise.
Engage in exercise to increase glucose transport capacity on muscle cell membranes, which helps move more glucose into muscles, lowering chronically high blood sugar levels.
If you have diabetes, starting an exercise program can improve muscle fitness and glucose transport, potentially allowing for a reduction in diabetic medication.
Consider incorporating vigorous, high-intensity exercise, as some evidence suggests it can lead to greater improvements in markers of insulin sensitivity.
Engage in vigorous exercise and push past your comfort zone to unlock unique and perhaps unrecognized benefits that are otherwise elusive.
Engage in vigorous exercise that pushes past the lactate threshold to potentially achieve unique cognitive enhancement.
During high-intensity workouts, aim to increase your lactate levels, as this is correlated with improved executive function and may offer benefits for neurodegenerative disease prevention.
Engage in more intense exercise to increase blood flow and sheer force, which offers dose-dependent benefits for brain health and may disrupt circulating tumor cells.
Incorporate vigorous exercise into your routine, as it may reduce the risk of cancer metastasis by introducing mechanical stress to cancer cells.
Engage in strength training to maintain the viability of fast-twitch muscle fibers, which are progressively lost with age and are important for power and preventing falls.
Incorporate High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) to support weight management and improve body composition, potentially leading to a slight loss of fat mass and an increase in lean mass.
Leverage the ‘afterburn effect’ (heightened metabolism post-HIIT) to burn more calories in recovery, as these small differences can accumulate over time.
Engage in ’exercise snacks’ – less than or equal to one minute of vigorous intensity exercise (e.g., jumping on a stationary bike, air squats) – at least four or five times a day.
For high-intensity exercise, aim for a relative heart rate of about 80% of your maximum heart rate.
To accurately determine your maximal heart rate, either run a 400-meter loop as hard as possible or progressively increase intensity on a stationary bike until exhaustion, measuring your heart rate directly.
Utilize the ‘World Fitness Calculator’ online to get a reasonable estimate of your VO2 max and track changes over time, even if the precise number isn’t 100% accurate.
For a more personalized VO2 max estimate than an online questionnaire, perform submaximal exercise tests like a shuttle run or beep test, which provide direct data on your physical capacity.
If new to exercise, start interval training by walking fast for a few light posts, then backing off, and repeating this pattern without worrying about specific heart rate percentages.
Enhance the benefits of walking by adding gentle intervals, slightly varying your pace to create hills and valleys of effort, even if not full sprint training.
Begin interval training by pushing slightly beyond your comfort zone for a short period (e.g., walking faster for two light posts), then recovering, and repeating.
Adopt a varied training approach, similar to diversifying investments, by incorporating different types of exercise, including short, sharp, and hard efforts, for overall fitness.
If primarily doing short sprint-style intervals (like Tabata), consider incorporating longer intervals (3-5 minutes) at the highest sustainable intensity to maximize VO2 max gains.
To maximize gains in VO2 max, perform three to five minute repeats at the highest sustainable intensity.
Incorporate 1-minute on, 1-minute off intervals, repeated 5 to 10 times, for significant improvements in VO2 max, with 5 repeats offering substantial benefits.
To optimize training and challenge your body in different ways, vary the duration of your high-intensity intervals and recovery periods.
Engage in the ‘One Minute Workout’ protocol: three 20-second vigorous intervals with recovery in between, plus a 5-minute total warm-up and cool-down, for a 10-minute total workout.
Engage in re-HIT, a 10-minute workout involving one to two 10-20 second very high-power efforts, which feels less uncomfortable than longer sprints due to shorter duration.
Engage in 4-second all-out efforts followed by 12 seconds of recovery, repeated multiple times, as even deconditioned individuals can achieve high power outputs with this method.
Incorporate high-intensity bodyweight exercises (e.g., calisthenics, air squats, burpees) as a form of interval resistance training to gain both strength and aerobic conditioning efficiently.
For a balanced approach, combine high-intensity functional or bodyweight training with aerobic interval training (e.g., on a bike or elliptical) across your weekly sessions.
To maximize gains from both aerobic and resistance training, ideally separate these sessions by a few hours rather than performing them back-to-back.
Consider interval training even if you have cardiometabolic diseases, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, or are older, as many individuals can safely perform and benefit from it.
If the choice is between HIIT and no exercise, choose HIIT; if deconditioned or older, start with moderate exercise as preconditioning before moving to more intense interval training.
Do not engage in vigorous intensity exercise if you have certain conditions like unstable angina or atrial fibrillation; consult a doctor for clearance.
If you have joint injuries or osteoarthritis, remain active by choosing less weight-bearing activities like cycling, which allows for vigorous exercise without damaging the joints.
Do not worry about high-intensity interval training causing chronically elevated cortisol levels, as evidence suggests basal cortisol levels may even stay lower in those who practice it.
If you are an extreme exerciser (very high intensity, very high volume over a lifetime), be mindful that this may carry some increased cardiovascular risk.
Consider exploring blood flow restricted training, as there is interesting ongoing work suggesting potential benefits, especially for those with joint issues.