Women Benefit More From Interval Training Than Men – Study

Interval training – alternating periods of high-intensity and low-intensity exercise – benefits women runners more than men, according to a new U.S. study. Eight men and eight women in their twenties were put through self-paced, high-intensity interval training on the treadmill with different recovery periods. Maximum oxygen consumption and heart rates were measured throughout, and the results revealed a significant difference between the sexes on both measurements. The men tended to run faster, but the women worked at a higher percentage of their maximum heart rate and a higher percentage of their maximum oxygen consumption. The findings indicated that the women got more benefit from the interval training than the men.