Popular HIIT exercise regime loved by Joe Wicks helps elderly hospital patients build up their strength and recover quicker, scientists say
- High-intensity interval training (HIIT) involves short bursts of strenuous exercise
- US experts explored the benefits of HIIT for adults in skilled nursing facilities
- They found patients doing HIIT regimes healed faster and to a greater degree
- In particular, they ended up with walking speeds 0.4 feet/second faster with HIIT
Popular high-intensity interval training (HIIT) regimes as loved by Joe Wicks can help elderly hospital patients build up their strength and recover quicker, experts found.
According to researchers from the US, these exercise routines — which feature short bursts of strenuous exercise — can help older patients regain more function, faster.
In particular, the team found that patients recuperating in skilled nursing facilities could increase their walking speed at discharge by 0.4 feet per second using HIIT.
Popular high-intensity interval training (HIIT) regimes as loved by Joe Wicks, pictured, can help elderly hospital patients build up their strength and recover quicker, experts found
'Our study identified an impactful opportunity to improve the way we care for patients in skilled nursing facilities,' said paper author and rehabilitation scientist Allison Gustavson of University of Colorado's Anschutz Medical Campus.
'High-intensity resistance training is safe, effective and preferable in caring for medically complex older adults in skilled nursing facilities.'
In their study, Dr Gustavson and colleagues worked with 103 participants in a US nursing home.
They were assigned to either a high-intensity program — dubbed 'i-STRONGER' — run by physical therapists, or underwent normal care.
The results showed that patients participating in the high-intensity program benefited by increasing their activity.
In particular, the HIIT subjects increased their walking speed from evaluation to discharge by 0.4 feet (0.13 metres) per second more than the control group — a figure which exceeds clinically meaningful changes.
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