- Sports scientists enrolled 60 male students at the University of Zululand who admitted to being physically inactive smokers.
- Three times a week, one group performed 20 minutes of high-intensity interval training on an exercise bike and another group performed 40 minutes of continuous pedaling.
- Both groups improved in fitness after 8 weeks, but the interval training group did much better.
- For other stories, www.BusinessInsider.co.za.
This is a time when decisions about smoking and exercise are often made. That means the young sports scientist’s first published study has arrived just in time.
And if you’re a smoker and physically inactive male between the ages of 18 and 30 and you’re looking for ways to exercise in the shortest possible time with the greatest positive health impact, the University of Zululand Nduduzo Shandu said: He says he has an answer.
After subjecting 40 students who fit that description to two eight-week exercise bike regimes, Shandu found that 20 minutes of high-intensity interval training was not only faster than 2x continuous pedaling, but also much faster. said to be effective for
The group that completed 8-second sprint followed by 12-second rest sessions three times per week had better fitness, health-related quality of life, and significantly improved psychological health. .
In a paper published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, Shandu and co-authors from the University of Zululand and the University of Essex, UK, said: Health, slows the risk of developing and progressing smoking-related diseases, and indirectly increases the life expectancy of smokers. “
This is because previous research has shown that interval training is adaptable to different fitness levels, takes less time, is more engaging and enjoyable than continuous aerobic training, and has greater physiological benefits. is not surprising to some extent, they say.
However, in their study, interval training improved lung function more than continuous exercise. Still, both types of exercise lead to improvements in smokers’ lungs, as measured by expiratory volume and expiratory velocity, Shandu says are the most striking findings.
Both groups recorded significant improvements in recovery heart rate, but the improvement with interval training was much greater. improved in It is considered a good indicator of the amount of oxygen your heart needs to function optimally.
About one in three men in South Africa smokes, and Shandu said previous research found that a third of students started smoking at university as part of an important life change. I know
So when he placed an ad on UZ’s KwaDlangezwa campus in Empangeni, signing up 60 volunteers and dividing them into three groups, he decided to target smokers.
Only 2 students dropped out of the interval training group, but 4 students dropped out of the continuous cardio training group before the end of the 8 weeks. – ordered to sit for eight weeks – Finally, there are 14 members.
The exercise group completed 24 sessions on a stationary cycle ergometer at UZ Gym. First he has a 5 minute warm up, a 5 minute cool down and he finishes with a 20 second calf, hamstring, quadriceps and glutes stretch. muscles of the back, neck and shoulders.
It was during training that things changed. The interval training group repeated a routine that included sprinting and resting up to 60 times. Shandu says she increased ergometer resistance for participants who completed two consecutive sessions. The session took a total of 33 minutes.
After warming up, the continuous aerobic training group cycled at 60 revolutions per minute for 40 minutes, with resistance changes such that oxygen usage was between 60% and 75% of the body’s maximum capacity. Each session he lasted 55 minutes.
“The findings suggest that high-intensity interval training should be the preferred form of exercise regimen among college-age smokers for more significant health benefits,” Shandu said. says.
However, he acknowledges the limitations of his research. “beginning, [it] It consists of a small, highly educated, homogeneous sample, which limits our ability to generalize our results and detect statistically significant differences.
“Second, the findings may not be generalizable to other age groups. [they] It is consistent with previous evidence on the relationship between exercise and health status, health-related quality of life, and psychological measures.
“Exercise is an important factor in reducing the associated risks of diseases caused by smoking and may increase life expectancy, which may be associated with physiological and psychological benefits.”
.
