A recent article in Medscape explores whether exercising at a certain intensity brings unique benefits. Kate Baird, MA, ACSM-CEP, CSCS, exercise physiologist at HSS and co-author of a study published in Cell Reports Medicine that found short spurts of intense exercise may offer benefits over longer forms of moderate activity, shared her insight. Baird noted that physicians should be talking to patients about exercise intensity and may even encourage them to safely experiment with higher-intensity activity.

Baird puts it this way: “The best recipe is to get a variety of different types of intensity in your exercise routine.” That could be a few longer sessions below the lactate threshold and then one or two sessions where you get your heart rate close to its max. “We know from the study that it is such a potent stimulus and there’s a lot of benefits,” Baird said. “It doesn’t mean you do it every day.”

Read the full article at medscape.com.