https://en.wikipedia...terval_training
http://www.ncbi.nlm....les/PMC3371620/
http://www.ncbi.nlm....pubmed/22587821
It seems like the almost-ideal form of exercise, especially if you're low on time. It's amazing for increasing insulin sensitivity.
Also - it seems to increase metabolism by increasing https://en.wikipedia...gen_consumption. Could this be the reason why exercise seems to increase energy in many people? The only issue is that increased metabolism (and all the extra oxygen) could be associated with accelerated aging if not fully counteracted by hormesis pathways. Does hormesis from HIIT differ from hormesis in regular exercise? Or could HIIT effectively make one's metabolism more bird-like - in the sense that birds have amazing metabolism and low free radical damage despite it all?
While HIIT would upregulate hormesis/cell-repair pathways.. the timescale of cell-repair involves changes in gene expression, and those changes aren't going to come in several minutes. So I'm slightly concerned that HIIT could result in a lot of free radical damage when it's practiced irregularly.
Does it increase growth hormone and IGF-1 levels?
Also, what about free radical production from HIIT as compared to free radical production from other sources of exercise? Is it even possible to create animal models of HIIT? Many mice will exercise if you give them a treadmill, but are they going to go all the way up to VO2Max?
Edited by InquilineKea, 25 October 2013 - 10:19 PM.