A HIIT for all Populations

Editor’s Note:  This text-based course is a transcript of the webinar, A HIIT for all Populations, presented by Lori Sherlock, Ed.D., C.S.C.S., A.T.R.I.C., AEA Aquatic Exercise Specialist.  Dr. Lori Sherlock:  I hope that I can improve your knowledge on the concept of high intensity interval training with special populations and regular populations.  I want to point out that high-intensity intervals have been being used since 1910.  The fitness and the rehab industries are just now latching onto this type of training, because they are starting to see the amazing benefits.  They are starting to understand the amazing benefits for not just athletes, but also for the greater continuum of populations that are out there.  I am hoping that many of you are taking this course because you are seeing the need for this as I do.  Basically, as therapists, we are seeing fewer sessions that are allowable through insurance companies and we have this need to increase or speed up the process.  High-Intensity Interval Training has the ability to do just that for some of the components of rehabilitation. ObjectivesOur learning objectives today are to accurately define high-intensity interval training, describe at least three effects of aquatic high-intensity interval training on athletes and how they can be used as training modalities for multiple populations, to list at least three modifications that accompany high-intensity interval training in the water, and describe at least two safety interventions when implementing aquatic high-intensity interval training with compromised populations.  High Intensity Interval TrainingHigh-Intensity interval training, or HIIT, which you can also see called a couple other things.  You might see it called HITT, which is high intensity tactical training or HIT which is just high-intensity training.  These are very similar in nature and they basically are used interchangeably.  The other thing you might note is that there are a variety of different types of high-intensity interval training.  You might see something like Tabata, which is a big fitness buzzword right now, but basically something like that is high-intensity interval training.  What makes it a HIIT?High intensity interval training is repeated bouts of high-intensity efforts that are going to be followed by recovery periods.  The amount of intensity and the intensity of the recovery periods are going to vary.  We need to make sure that we pay attention and plan both of those.  The intervention needs to be directly related to the need of the individual. When we are planning the work and the recovery, we want to look at what the individual needs. This is a little bit more challenging in group work, but still very effective.  Think about what the need is and mold the high-intensity interval to that need.  Some of us need to think about the fact that it is not necessarily that patients are training to go back out onto a football field or training to go back onto the soccer field; though that may very well be the case.  It oftentimes is not.  What we need to think about is what their lifestyles look like including what their work and rest ratios look like within the course of their daily lives.  High-Intensity Intervals.  For the high-intensity intervals, some of them are going to range from five seconds to eight minutes.  Some will be super short such as five seconds where you are barely getting started before you turn it off. That is a super high-intensity.  We are talking about 100% up to 120% or even 140% of our VO2 max or heart rate max.  Understand that when we are talking about VO2 max, this is the body's uppermost ability to consume, distribute and utilize oxygen for energy production.  When we are testing someone’s VO2, that will be the gold standard.  Do all of us get to do that?  Absolutely not.  Something like a heart rate max, which we can do by configuring an equation or having them do a little test for us is another option. We can also use the rate of perceived exertion.  The rate of perceived exertion is just asking them simply, “How hard do you feel like you are working?”  That is another great way to figure out just how hard that person is working. Recovery intervals.  The flip side of that high-intensity interval is looking at the recovery intervals.   Normally these range again 15 seconds to five minutes.  When looking at high-intensity and the recovery intervals trying to figure out how those would match up, if you are only working for five seconds, then I only need 15 seconds of rest.  In the greater scheme of things, it is usually the exact opposite.  If you are working for five seconds, 10 seconds, or 15 seconds, often times it is a longer duration for recovery, because you are working so much harder.  When we are getting into that eight minute timeframe, where your high-intensity interval is turning more aerobic, you get a shorter period of time for recovery.  Also note that these recovery periods can be complete recovery, where the person is, in my case, floating in the water or they are doing something up towards that 70% range.  Again, we are talking VO2 max/heart rate max or maximal power output.  A great way to explain 70% would be a steady walk; something that you could maintain for an extended period of time.  If we are discussing a rate of perceived exertion, 70% is going to feel somewhat hard.  It should be a steady continuous type of intensity, when we are talking about a recovery interval.  It should not be too challenging.  We can also use these recovery intervals to infuse other components of our rehab plan.  It might be that the individual not only needs to work on cardiovascular health, muscular power, and muscular strength, but they also need to work on balance or agility.  Those components do not take a lot of energy or a lot of intensity.  They are not very intense type of drills, but they are super functional and things that we need to work on.  We may...