- Researchers report that Aquatic High Intensity Interval Training (AHIIT) improves exercise capability in adults with chronic conditions.
- They noted AHIIT had a similar impact as land-based training (LBHIIT) and may be a safe and valuable alternative for people with chronic conditions unable to perform the land-based exercise.
- Experts say exercising in water can help relieve pressure on joints, allowing people to complete movements they can’t necessarily do on land, but there’s conflicting evidence on its physiological benefits.
Researchers have a message for people with chronic conditions who find land-based training too difficult.
Get in. The water’s fine.
Published today in the journal BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine. the study states that high-intensity interval training in water, often called aquatic HIIT (AHIIT) improves exercise capacity in adults with chronic conditions such as diabetes and arthritis.
The researchers also say that AHIIT has a similar impact as land-based training (LBHIIT) and may be a safe and valuable alternative for people with chronic conditions who are unable to perform LBHIIT.
Dr. Mark Slabaugh, a sports medicine specialist at Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore, told Medical News Today the benefits of water exercise is clear for people suffering from conditions such as tendinitis, arthritis, and chronic pain.
“This study gives us as clinicians even more options for patients who are interested in cross training and doing HIIT workouts but can not due to joint pain,” said Salbaugh, who was not involved in the study. “I counsel my patients to start out with these light AHIIT sessions and gradually work up to a longer duration of swimming, which has been proven to be a sport which can be done well into your later years.”
HIIT is an interval training exercise involving brief bursts of high intensity movements followed by short recovery periods with lower intensity movements.
It’s considered to have more health benefits than…
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