Fartlek Training Enhances Longevity and Brain Health Through Intensity

Key Quotes

"Fartlek is a Swedish word it means speed play basically whether you're walking or biking or jogging or running you just increase your speed for a short period of time and then come back down some of my fartlek intervals are longer than others some are shorter it's all fine you do whatever you want to do for as long as you want to do it or short and here is my favorite marker I'm going to stop and say hi to some dogs"

Gretchen Reynolds explains that fartlek, or "speed play," is an informal interval training method. Reynolds highlights that it involves alternating between periods of increased speed and slower recovery, with flexibility in duration and intensity. This approach is presented as accessible and adaptable to various activities like walking, biking, or running.

"Fartlek ing is a very informal version of interval training and and anyone who's done any kind of sports knows interval training and probably dreads interval training interval training just means you really go hard for a set period of time usually a minute maybe two minutes you slow back down you rest for a few minutes and then you repeat that interval it's really yeah and it's it's like highly regimented too"

Gretchen Reynolds contrasts fartlek with traditional interval training, noting that standard intervals are highly regimented and often dreaded. Reynolds points out that these traditional methods require going hard for set times, followed by specific rest periods, which can be perceived as less enjoyable and more demanding.

"So that's the really great thing about fartleks is that they are a version of interval training that almost any of us can do and can do where we live we can do it right outside of your house because all you need to do is go out warm up for a few minutes so that your body is ready and then whether you're walking or running or biking or whatever activity you like pick up the pace just choose choose something in the landscape like a tree or a car or the next house or anything that's up ahead of you pick up the pace until you reach that marker slow down again it doesn't have to be a specific amount of time or distance just pick something that's up ahead of you go until you get to it slow down let your heart rate settle and then pick another marker go to that one and pick up the pace you're fartlek ing"

Gretchen Reynolds emphasizes the accessibility of fartleks, describing them as an interval training method suitable for almost anyone, anywhere. Reynolds explains that the practice involves picking a landscape marker, increasing pace until reaching it, then slowing down to recover before selecting another marker. This method removes the need for precise timing or distance, making it adaptable and easy to implement.

"There does seem to be something about intensity there are things that happen when you push your body a little bit that do not happen if you always go easy your heart rate speeds up a little bit more you produce a little bit more lactate which good thing and it's good for your muscles it's good for your brain the most important thing is that if you push yourself a little bit you get more fit faster you will start increasing your vo2 max which is a measure of how fit you are much faster if you occasionally do some more intense exercise than if it's always easy so just again get out of your comfort zone for a little while and your exercise becomes so much more effective"

Gretchen Reynolds explains the physiological benefits of incorporating intensity into exercise, even in small doses. Reynolds notes that pushing the body leads to increased heart rate and lactate production, which benefits muscles and the brain. Reynolds highlights that occasional intense exercise accelerates fitness gains, specifically by increasing VO2 max more rapidly than consistent easy exercise.

"I talked for instance with dr ulrik wisloff yeah so i'm ulrik wisloff from the norwegian university of science and technology and i'm a professor in exercise physiology and he's done a lot of research into the benefits of intense exercise and he's a huge fan of fartleks he does fartleks himself i i really like to run outside in the forest where we have when there is a hill i just go all not all out but i increase the speeds and what he told me is that doing exercise that does challenge you that does push you out of your normal aerobic comfort zone has truly unique benefits"

Gretchen Reynolds references Dr. Ulrik Wisloff, a professor of exercise physiology, who advocates for challenging exercise. Reynolds shares that Dr. Wisloff, a proponent of fartleks, states that exercise pushing beyond one's normal aerobic comfort zone offers unique benefits. This perspective underscores the value of intensity in exercise routines.

"The most important thing is that if you push yourself a little bit you get more fit faster you will start increasing your vo2 max which is a measure of how fit you are much faster if you occasionally do some more intense exercise than if it's always easy so just again get out of your comfort zone for a little while and your exercise becomes so much more effective"

Gretchen Reynolds reiterates that pushing oneself slightly during exercise leads to faster fitness improvements. Reynolds explains that this approach accelerates the increase in VO2 max, a key indicator of fitness, compared to always exercising at an easy pace. Reynolds concludes that stepping out of one's comfort zone temporarily makes exercise significantly more effective.

"I wrote about a pretty big study of about 7500 men and women and they looked at how they moved throughout the course of the day using very sophisticated accelerometers and what they found was that people who moved more often were less likely to die just in general over the next seven to 10 years but people whose exercise even sometimes was a little bit more intense they were moving a little faster a little harder their risk of dying was even lower than people who exercised a lot so it does look like you get more benefits out of even a little intense exercise than just always going easy"

Gretchen Reynolds discusses a large study involving accelerometers that tracked movement in 7,500 individuals. Reynolds reports that while increased movement correlated with a lower risk of death over seven to ten years, those engaging in even occasional more intense exercise showed an even lower mortality risk. Reynolds concludes that even a small amount of intense exercise provides greater benefits than consistently exercising at an easy intensity.

"And what the overwhelming amount of research said was if you want to live a long and healthy relatively disease free life it was so much more important to be in shape than to be thin when you say in shape do you mean like are they like your cardiovascular health cholesterol like what what does that mean in in this case it was how long could you run on a treadmill because these people were getting stress tests done and so people who were in the lowest 25 the lowest quarter were two to three times as likely to die prematurely to die in the next 10 years after their testing than people who were in the next quartile and it didn't matter what people's bmi was it didn't matter how heavy they were people who were quite heavy but were aerobically fit had a much lower risk of dying young than people who were thin but had really poor aerobic fitness"