Editorial

Running slow or running fast;that is the question: The merits of high-intensity interval training

In a recent issue of theJournal of Sport and Health Science, García-Pinillos et al.1reviewed evidence on the effects of highintensity intermittent training(interval training)(HIIT)on muscular and performance adaptations in recreational runners. They found that HIIT causes beneficia effects on running performance,including increased oxygen uptake capacity,and likely reduces running-related injuries because of the decreased work volume and training time.

Recent evidence suggests that as little as 3×20 s full-out cycle sprints per session performed 3 times per week over a 12-week period had the same health and performance benefit as 45 min of continuous cycling at 70%of the maximal oxygen uptake capacity(also 3 times per week and for 12 weeks).2

However,we do not need to go to well-controlled physiological studies to realize the enormous benefit of interval training. Ever since the flyin Finn,Paavo Nurmi,9 times Olympic gold medal winner between 1920 and 1928,used short sprints to improve his running abilities,interval training has become the norm in middle and long distance running.For a time,it appeared that every major improvement of middle and long distance world records was associated with a new discovery in interval training.The only person to ever win the 5000 m, 10,000 m,and marathon race at the same Olympic Games (Helsinki,1952),Emil Zátopek,was famous for his grueling 60 ×400 m interval training sessions.

Aside from improving athletic performance,HIIT seems to provide health benefits3reduce the risk for injury in runners,1improve recovery in patients following heart failure,4and produce beneficia adaptations in young and old.5

For the nonscientific-minde,there may be another reason why sprint and HIIT is good for you:it allows you to run fast! As a competitive runner for over 50 years,I still love the thrill of feeling the speed under my feet,the pressure running around the bend,to be as fast as I used to be over 800 or 1500 m,even though I can barely maintain that speed for 50 m now.It is a privilege to run fast and be born a fast runner,and I believe that there is a psychological effect of running fast,doing something at high intensity,fully exhausting your body in 20 s.

Maybe somebody,one day,will test for the psychological effects of sprint and HIIT and test my(purely intuitive)hypothesis,thathigh-intensity exercising providesbenefit justbecause it feels good and provides much more than physiological adaptations and improved performance.

1.García-Pinillos F,Soto-Hermoso VM,Latorre-Román PA.How does high-intensity intermittent training affect recreational endurance runners? Acute and chronic adaptations:a systematic review.J Sport Health Sci2017;6:54–67.

2.Gillen JB,Martin BJ,MacInnis MJ,Skelly LE,Tarnopolsky MA,Gibala MJ. Twelve weeks of sprint interval training improves indices of cardiometabolic health similar to traditional endurance training despite a fi e-fold lower exercise volume and time commitment.PLoS One2016;11:e0154075. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0154075

3.Gibala MJ,McGee SL.Metabolic adaptations to short-term high-intensity interval training:a little pain for a lot of gain?Exerc Sport Sci Rev2008; 36:58–63.

4.Wisl?ff U,St?ylen A,Loennechen JP,Bruvold M,Rognmo ?,Haram PM, et al.Superior cardiovascular effect of aerobic interval training versus moderate continuous training in heart failure patients:a randomized study.Circulation2007;115:3086–94.

5.Pichot V,Roche F,Denis C,Garet M,Duverney D,Costes F,et al.Interval training in elderly men increases both heart rate variability and barorefl x activity.Clin Auton Res2005;15:107–15.

Walter Herzog,Co–Editor-in-Chief

Human Performance Laboratory,Faculty of Kinesiology,

University of Calgary,Calgary,AB T2N 1N4,Canada

E-mail address:wherzog@ucalgary.ca

Accepted 20 June 2016

Available online 14 October 2016

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jshs.2016.10.001

2095-2546/?2017 Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V.on behalf of Shanghai University of Sport.This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).