Post-Op HIIT

In this edition, HIIT helps postoperative recovery, a muscle oxygen sensor for the masses (sort of) and your weekly recommendations.

The Rundown

Post-Op HIIT. A study out of the University of Otago has found that a short program of high intensity interval training or HIIT before surgery can significantly help with recovery.

The review analyzed 12 studies that included over 800 patients who had done preoperative HIIT. (HIIT involves repeated aerobic high-intensity intervals at about 80 percent of maximum heart rate followed by active recovery). It looked at all types of major surgeries, defined as those expected to last more than two hours or with an anticipated blood loss of more than 500ml.

The most substantial result was the change in cardiorespiratory fitness. HIIT increased it by 2.39 ml/min/kg. Lead investigator Dr. Kari Clifford notes that this increase “is not only significantly different than standard surgical care, but is also clinically relevant…and associated with a lower risk of adverse postoperative outcomes.”

HIIT was also shown to reduce the risk of postoperative complications by 56% and patients stayed three fewer days in the hospital on average.

Clifford says that even four weeks of HIIT pre-surgery “may bring with it robust benefits” for many patients.

Muscle Moxy. Are muscle oxygen sensors the next big thing in wearables? Moxy hopes so. The main player in this space, its monitor is designed to gather and display data live so that you can precisely control your training intensity.

Muscle oxygen sensors are small devices that you stick onto a large working muscle. (So if you’re a runner or cyclist, that’s somewhere on your legs). The sensor uses near-infrared spectroscopy to assess what fraction of the hemoglobin and myoglobin molecules in the tissue are carrying oxygen.

If the number goes up, your heart and lungs are delivering more oxygen than the muscle is using. If it goes down, demand is exceeding supply and exhaustion is not far away.

The general feeling among researchers is that muscle oxygen readings offer useful insights but the challenge is making them accessible and affordable to the average consumer. Moxy’s device currently sells for $879, suggesting it has some way to go to achieve the latter.

Extra Point

Watch

Stephen Curry: Underrated. Sports documentaries can be character studies or public relations exercises. Depending on your point of view, this look at the rise of Stephen Curry, from an undersized player at a Division I college to a four-time NBA champion, may be a bit of both but its “underdog wins” theme makes for an uplifting film. Stephen Curry: Underrated premieres on Apple TV+ on July 21.

Listen

Huberman Lab Guest Series with Dr. Andy Galpin. In this six-part series, popular podcaster and neuroscientist Andrew Huberman does a deep dive with Andy Galpin on fitness, exercise and performance. After explaining the essential parts of a well-rounded fitness program, he discusses twelve tools that “take a small amount of time to implement, yet all of which can greatly enhance your level of fitness.”

Read

It’s Time to Normalize—And Celebrate—Exercise Variations For Bigger Bodies. Part of “The Bodies Issue” for Well+Good, this article by Kells McPhillips discusses why the idea that larger bodies can do everything smaller bodies can is a mentality that “sounds good(ish) on paper” but actually “ignores the reality that different body shapes move differently.”