When clustered together high blood sugar (hyperglycemia), high cholesterol/triglycerides (hyperlipidemia), high blood pressure (hypertension) and excess belly fat are referred to as metabolic syndrome. Individuals with metabolic syndrome die prematurely and are three times more likely to die of heart disease than those without this cluster of disorders. Medical studies indicate that exercise can prevent and/or reverse metabolic syndrome; with high intensity exercise resulting in a greater therapeutic benefit than moderate exercise.
According to a study noted in the July 2008 edition of Circulation, researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology evaluated two exercise programs to identify which is most effective at reversing metabolic syndrome; participants diagnosed with metabolic syndrome were divided into three groups: aerobic interval training, continuous moderate exercise or a non specific exercise group.
The aerobic interval training program instructed participants to warm up at 70% of their maximum heart rate for ten minutes. The warm up was followed by four four-minute intervals of intense exercise (90% of their maximum heart rate) with three minute recovery periods at 70% of their maximum heart rate between intense intervals. These sessions ended with a five minute cool-down period.
The moderate exercise participants performed a session of about forty-five minutes at 70% of their maximum heart rate. Moderate exercise involves increasing heart rate to 50% to 70% of its maximum level such as walking at about three miles per hour.
Both exercise programs were scheduled three times a week for sixteen weeks. The exercise programs were designed to expend equal amount of calories per workout section.Throughout the study researches evaluated the effects of the two different exercise routines on the criteria for the diagnosis of metabolic syndrome and other markers of cardiovascular health.
Both exercise programs resulted in similar and favorable effects on body weight and blood pressure. However, the aerobic interval training group showed greater improvement in endothelial function, insulin sensitivity, aerobic capacity and HDL cholesterol.
In addition to better insulin sensitivity, participants from the aerobic interval training group had lower blood glucose levels than participants from the moderate and non specific exercise groups.
Participants in the aerobic interval training program had a 25% increase in HDL levels. Participants from the moderate exercise and non exercise groups showed no change in HDL levels.
Participants in the aerobic interval training group increased their ability to absorb oxygen by 35% during the sixteen week program, whereas the moderate exercise group increased their maximal oxygen uptake by 16%. Low aerobic exercise capacity has been shown to be a strong predictor of death.
At the end of the program forty-six percent of the participants in the interval group no longer met the criteria for metabolic syndrome, compared with thirty-seven percent in the moderate exercise group. The participants in the third group continued to meet the criteria for metabolic syndrome at the end of the study.
The findings of this study suggest that high-intensity interval exercise training is an important factor for improving aerobic capacity and is more beneficial to prevent and reverse the risk factors of metabolic syndrome compared with continuous moderate-intensity program.
Additional overviews regarding metabolic syndrome are posted on this cardiovascular wellness site. These overviews are dated August 9, 16, 23 and Sept 1, 2008.
Source:
Aerobic interval training vs. continuous moderate exercise as a treatment for the metabolic syndrome. Tjonnas AE, Lee SJ, Rogonmo O
Circulation. 2008 Jul 22;118(4):346-54.
Helpful for Anxiety and Depression Aerobic exercise is helpful to reduce the depression level of patients suffering from anxiety problems. Mostly it offers a distraction from your regular worriness. For an hour or so each day, you can put yourself in a position where you are too busy worrying about the prospect of having to run another two miles before you can stop.
http://healthfreak2.wordpress.com/2009/10/09/benefits-of-aerobic-exercise/
Posted by: Robin Smith | October 09, 2009 at 05:37 AM