Should I swap my gym circuits for a HIIT routine?
I AM a regular at the gym and usually do a circuits class once a week which involves doing all sorts of exercises, one after the other. Friends tell me I should do high-intensity exercise. I thought I already was! Can you explain? I’m a 46-year-old woman. HIGH-intensity interval training, or HIIT, involves working at a very high intensity for periods of 20 to 30 seconds, followed by a recovery of about three to four times that period.
The high overload on your body is thought to raise metabolism, be better for your heart and lungs and have a greater effect on your body shape than straight constant-pace cardio.
The big question is, just how do we know what is defined as HIIT and what is, say, just quite intense exercise? I tell clients to imagine they’re giving a seven or eight out of ten in terms of effort while running, cycling, star-jumping or whatever their HIIT exercise of choice is.
To answer the question, a circuits class usually involves doing one exercise for a minute, then moving to the next. Strictly speaking, this isn’t HIIT because it’s pretty much impossible to sustain a sprint interval for a minute.
But there is nothing to stop you combining circuit training, longer cardio sessions and HIIT training – variety is the spice of life, after all. Make sure you speak to a doctor before embarking on a high-intensity regime, though, if you think you might have a condition that would make it risky. AS A 60-year-old mother of two grown-up children, I’ve recently joined the gym. I now do aerobics three days a week, and yoga and Pilates the other two days. I’ve read a lot about women my age increasing protein intake by drinking special ‘shakes’, especially if we’re active. Should I be doing this? WE ALL know the term ‘a balanced diet’. But what does it really mean? Well, roughly speaking it’s making sure your meals contain a mix of proteins, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals, all of which are essential for a healthy body.
In my experience, among women – especially from middle age on – protein is a nutrient that is consumed too little. Protein is important for many reasons, not least because it’s needed for maintaining our muscles. Many slimmers avoiding rich sources of protein, red meat and dairy, which is the wrong thing to do. For a start, it’s far more likely that alcohol and eating too much overall, especially high-calorie foods like takeaways, is what needs to be avoided.
Without protein, muscle mass can suffer. We need lean muscle tissue to be strong and active as it is the part of the body that best burns calories. As a rule of thumb, middle-aged women should aim to consume about 1.6g of protein per kilo of body weight per day. The average British woman weighs 11 stone – or roughly 70kg. That means aiming for 112g of protein a day. A chicken breast can contain between 30g and 50g of protein, while a large salmon fillet could deliver up to 80g of protein. An egg will give you 13g, and a small tub of Greek yogurt about 9g.
So what about those powdered mixes that you add to water or milk? Well, if you are bodybuilding or think your diet is poor, you may need a supplement. But be warned, the shakes can be high in calories. And if you’re consuming many more calories than you burn, you’ll put on weight.
So before you choose a highprotein supplement, do the maths and ask yourself: Do you really need it?
BEWARE PROTEIN SHAKES… THEY CAN BE CALORIE-PACKED