HIIT will make you stronger, faster and leaner.

HIIT will make you stronger, faster and leaner.

One of the ways it does that is by improving your lactate threshold (LT).

What is Lactate Threshold?

Lactate threshold is the level of exercise intensity where lactic acid builds up in your bloodstream and you begin to feel that lactic acid burn.

In the world of athletic science, LT is usually expressed as a percentage of VO2 max.


What is VO2 Max?
VO2 max is defined as “the highest rate of oxygen consumption attainable during maximal or exhaustive exercise”
Essentially, it is a measurement of how much oxygen you can get into your muscles during exercise, and is widely accepted as the single best measure of cardiovascular fitness and maximal aerobic power.


So how does LT & VO2 Max make me stronger, faster, leaner?

• If you can delay the build up of lactic acid in your blood, you can trainer longer, faster, harder.
• If you can train longer, faster, harder, you will become stronger, faster leaner.

And how do we delay the lactic acid burn, increase our LT and maximize our VO2 max?
Well, according to this study, high intensity interval training significantly increases LT and VO2 max.


The Study
Researchers took 20 physically active individuals and put them through one of two separate 6 week training programs.

1. Group 1 performed 1 interval training workout per week
2. Group 2 performed 2 interval training workouts per week

After 6 weeks,

1. Group 1 improved their LT by 4.3%
2. Group 2 improved their LT by 8.2%

Conclusion
Not only is interval training (HIIT) a successful strategy for improving LT and VO2 max, there is a dose-response relationship between frequency of interval training and the magnitude of LT improvement.
In other words,

• if you increase your HIIT, you increase your LT
• if you increase your LT, you increase your VO2 max
• if you increase your LT & VO2 max, you get stronger and faster & leaner….

And who wouldn’t want to get stronger, faster and leaner?