There’s a reason high-intensity interval training (HIIT) is so popular – it’s designed to give you a killer workout in a short amount of time. HIIT classes are short, sharp bursts of exercises where you’re working out above 85% of your maximum heart rate, and Sean Johnson, regional fitness manager at Orangetheory Fitness, can see why they’re “tempting”. “A lot of people are pressed for time and seek a ‘quick fix’. To many people, the assumption is ‘no pain, no gain’ and so therefore seek out a hard-hitting, pulse-shattering workout to undo the unhealthy habits they may have gotten themselves into,” he says. “A hard workout can feel very rewarding when you move fast and blast around for a short time.” Plus, there are benefits to HIIT training, with Johnson saying: “A shorter, more intense workout does have the ability to elicit a longer afterburn compared to a less intense longer workout.” But is there a chance we’re overdoing it, in a bid to ‘get the most’ out of our workouts? There’s a growing trend for lower intensity exercise – often using a heart rate monitor so you can track where you’re at – which might provide a whole host of benefits, without making you feel a bit sick. Signs you might be overdoing it “Working at a maximal heart rate can sometimes cause people to feel lightheaded, dizzy, faint and nauseous. This isn’t very fun and can also deter people from coming back,” suggests Francesca Sills, exercise physiologist at Pure Sports Medicine. Johnson agrees: “Working out for too long at an intensity that is too high can put numerous stresses on the body such as fainting, vomiting and even serious cardiovascular and respiratory health issues.” A heart rate monitor can help you track how hard you’re pushing yourself, but if you don’t have one, Johnson recommends going by “feeling”. Orangetheory uses three terms to define your perceived exertion: “Base pace is a ‘challenging, but doable’ feeling, push pace is an ‘uncomfortable feeling’ and all out is an ‘empty the tank feeling’,” Johnson explains. He doesn’t recommend spending more than a minute in the ‘all out’ section, and other signs you might be overdoing it include “fatiguing earlier than you normally do, dizziness, light headed, you get injured or have joint and muscle pain regularly”. Downsides to HIIT? Sills suggests there aren’t necessarily downsides to HIIT, just “things to be wary of”. She says: “If you’re working very hard for a long time or for longer than you are used to, it’s possible that you’ll finish the session feeling unwell rather than energised.” Johnson says there is the risk of overtraining with regular HIIT classes. “In the shorter term, working out at an intensity too high can stress your adrenal glands and stimulate the release of cortisol (the stress hormone). In turn, this can have numerous side effects such as increased blood pressure, increased heart rate, encourage fatigue and ultimately hinder recovery. “If your body cannot recover properly, you will find it hard to get into a regular routine with your fitness and will see a lack of results.” The benefits of slowing down Johnson suggests incorporating lower-intensity exercise into your routine can improve your everyday life. “Doing workouts that don’t raise your heart rate to the extremes can help reduce the risk of injury (and risk of falls and trips), reduce fatigue and pain, elevate your mood, improve sleep quality, while still helping to burn calories,” he says. Sills mentions how ‘zone two’ workouts are a “hot topic” in the fitness world recently – this is a type of low-intensity, sustained exercise where you’re working at around 65-75% of your maximum – for example, going for a gentle jog where you can still hold a conversation. She says these types of workouts are gaining popularity because of the “large amount of benefit it brings to the health and efficiency of your cardiovascular and metabolic systems”. If you’re used to leaving it all on the floor with an intense workout every time you hit the gym, it can be tricky to know how to slow down. Johnson recommends using the ‘FITT principle’ to adjust your exercise routine: Frequency: Instead of doing your four workouts next week try doing only threeIntensity: Do your normal four workouts, but take it down a notch in each one.Time: Instead of doing four x 90 minute workouts next week, maybe try doing four x one hour workouts.Type: Switch it up and use different equipment or style of workout. Johnson adds: “Having slower days will enable you to focus more on the form and technique, which transfers over to the high intensity days as well.” Doing HIIT safely While it’s a good idea to mix up your workouts with different intensities, there are a few things you can do to make sure you don’t overdo it in HIIT. Sills recommends ensuring “you are eating well to fuel your body for performance”, and “get on top of your sleep routine to allow your body to rest and repair”. If you’re a newbie to exercise, she wouldn’t necessarily recommend a HIIT class immediately: “If you haven’t done much training before, it’s important to learn how to do things right and build a good base level of strength and fitness before going in and smashing yourself. If you aren’t sure how to perform exercises well when you’re fresh, you aren’t setting yourself up for success when you’re fatigued.” And finally, she says: “It’s important to work within your own limits. Often these classes are busy, loud and intense and people can be encouraged to continue to do more weight, more reps, etc. Issues arise when people push too far beyond what they can manage. Instead of working at a 10/10 all the time, drop it back to an eight to nine.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live How to perk up urban balcony gardens and window boxes Sadiq Khan and Romesh Ranganathan: Women still aren’t equal in politics and comedy SPF cocktailing: Why you should steer clear of the buzzy TikTok trend

Time-restricted eating, commonly known as intermittent fasting, may produce similar weight loss results for adults with obesity compared to traditional calorie counting, according to a new study. The small clinical trial, whose results were published on Tuesday in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine, found that participants who engaged in 8-hour time restricted eating had improved insulin sensitivity compared to those in the control group who ate their calories any time over 10 or more hours a day. Over a billion people worldwide are obese with the with the disease projected to grow in prevalence across the globe, according to the World Health Organization. Obesity has also been found to be a serious risk factor for other metabolic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and some types of cancer. A widely adopted tried-and-tested method to lose weight is to burn more calories than one consumes, and to achieve this, individuals typically count the calories of the food they eat each day. While this traditional approach for losing weight involves counting calories, time-restricted eating, without calorie counting, has also emerged as a popular strategy as it is easier to follow. However, whether intermittent fasting is as effective in producing weight loss, especially beyond the short term, has remained unclear. In the new research, scientists from the University of Illinois Chicago studied 90 adults with obesity from the Greater Chicago area to determine whether intermittent fasting or calorie restricted eating would be more effective for weight control and heart disease risk reduction. Researchers randomly assigned participants to 1 of 3 groups: 8-hour time-restricted eating from noon to 8:00 pm only without calorie counting; reducing a fourth of their calories daily; or no change in calorie consumption with eating taking place over 10 hours or more throughout the day. Participants who followed time-restricted eating and those adopting calorie restriction met regularly with a dietician. The study found that participants who engaged in time-restricted eating ate 425 fewer calories per day than the control group and lost about 4.5kg (10lb) more than the control group after one year. On the other hand, the calorie-restricted group ate 405 fewer calories per day and lost about 5.5kg (12lb) more after one year, with participants in both groups showing high adherence to their interventions. Scientists believe the new study and its findings can help make better-informed clinical decisions by taking individual preferences into consideration, rather than just choosing a diet that may be more effective. Researchers also point out that access to dieticians likely helped the participants make healthier food choices. As there was substantial individual variability in weight loss among participants using these interventions, they called for further research to determine who would most benefit from each of these diet choices. Read More Scientist behind Ozempic says drug can make life ‘so miserably boring’ Teens with severe obesity are turning to surgery and new weight loss drugs, despite controversy Two children were born with ‘insatiable hunger’ that left them severely obese. Now scientists know why British toddler has American accent after watching popular YouTube show GB News in ‘significant breach’ of Ofcom rules over Covid vaccine claims NHS unions vote to accept government pay deal – but nurses could still strike

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A father has revealed the exact moment he knew that he wanted to leave the United States and raise his children in Spain. Luna, who goes by the username ​​@lunagoestospain on TikTok, frequently posts videos about preparing for her move with her family. In a recent clip, she noted that a lot of people who live in the US have told her that, while they also want to move abroad, their husbands don’t want to do the same. She went on to direct her camera towards her own husband, before explaining that he didn’t want to move at first either. However, he then shared the experience he had while visiting Spain that ultimately changed his mind about raising children outside of the US. “We go to a cafe and there’s a ton of people walking around,” he recalled about the trip to Spain. “Being from St Louis, that’s not a very comfortable place for me to be in. And you turn to me and say: ‘Have you seen all these people?’ And I’m like: ‘Uhuh,’ and you’re like: ‘None of them have guns.’” He concluded his message by describing his change in perspective about living in Missouri, which has allowed individuals to carry concealed firearms in most places without first obtaining a permit since 2017. “I realised that this weight that I’d been carrying around my whole life wasn’t necessary,” he said. “It’s like what we think is normal is not normal.” In the caption, Luna went on to describe her husband’s comments, writing: “Here’s what shifted for him. I’m sure this’ll piss the right people off. No pun intended.” The TikTok video has quickly gone viral, as it has amassed more than 121,600 views. In the comments, multiple viewers also expressed their interests in raising children outside of America, while also describing their positive experiences when taking trips abroad. “There’s so much mental energy we dedicate to simply existing in the US,” one person claimed. “We lived in Japan for three years. Feeling safe in any neighbourhood or at any time of day or night was amazing,” another wrote. @lunagoestospain Here’s what shifted for him. I’m sure this’ll piss the right people off. No pun intended. #movingabroad #spaindigitalnomadvisa #movingabroadwithpets #movingtospainwithkids ♬ 7AM (Slowed + Reverb) - adrian A third added: “As a father of two young boys, your husband’s explanation has me shook because I cannot disagree.” Earlier this month, Luna shared another video reflecting on her upcoming move to Spain. In the clip, she explained that she’ll miss her family and friends in Missouri, but highlighted some of the benefits to living abroad. “I won’t ever have to tell her she can’t wear light-up shoes because of safety,” she wrote. “No shopping for bulletproof backpacks. I’ll move mountains to make sure she’s as safe as humanly possible.” The Independent has contacted Luna for comment. Luna’s videos also come two years after Missouri enacted the “Second Amendment Preservation Act,” which “subjects local and state law enforcement officers to fines of $50,000 for helping to enforce a federal gun law,” according to the Giffords Law Center. In March of this year, a federal judge ruled the controversial law as unconstitutional, but “has since allowed the law to remain in effect pending appeals,” per Giffords. In recent years, research has found that more Americans are opting to move out of the US. According to the Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP), there were nearly 4.8 million Americans living overseas in 2018. This number has continued to grow, as the US Department of State estimated that in 2021, there were about 9 million US citizens living abroad. Read More A scientist's 4-decade quest to save the biggest monkey in the Americas One in six students at English universities taught overseas – watchdog Dylan Mulvaney leaves the US ‘to feel safe’ amid Bud Light backlash Schoolboy almost dies from swallowing magnets for TikTok challenge Woman shares honest review of New York City apartment TikTok mom slammed after making 5-year-old son run in 104 degree heat

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