Shownotes
What if your workout routine was like a handbag? We all have different styles — from totes to clutches to backpacks — but the essentials inside are usually the same. The same goes for exercise. No matter if you love yoga, running, Pilates, or strength training, there are a few non-negotiable “essentials” every woman should have in her exercise handbag for muscle health, fat loss, longevity, and overall fitness.
In this episode, I’m breaking down the first must-have: HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) and SIT (Sprint Interval Training). We’ll cover:
- What HIIT and SIT really are (and how they differ)
- Why sprint training is especially important for women’s muscle health and bone density
- What about cortisol and high-intensity workouts? We chat about that, too!
- How HIIT & SIT boost metabolism, VO₂ max, and brain health
- Practical ways to add HIIT or sprint training into your week — at the gym, outside, or at home
Whether you’re training for longevity, looking to build lean muscle, or just want to protect your health as you age, this episode will help you understand why short bursts of intensity are a non-negotiable in your exercise handbag.
Perfect for: women’s fitness, exercise for longevity, HIIT workouts, sprint training, metabolic health, and women who want smarter workouts (not just longer ones).
Tune in, take notes, and get ready to upgrade your fitness handbag with the tools that actually move the needle for women’s health.
- Dr. Stacy’s Article: https://www.drstacysims.com/newsletters/articles/posts/why-hiit-is-essential-for-women-body-and-brain-benefits
- The benefits of HIIT for the brain research: https://www.cell.com/trends/neurosciences/fulltext/S0166-2236(24)00062-6?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS0166223624000626%3Fshowall%3Dtrue
- Cortisol as the misunderstood mean girl series: https://player.captivate.fm/collection/fd771da6-0546-438e-aaee-24d1a9ad0fc2
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00:00- 00:50 Intro
00:51- 01:05 Introduction to the Exercise Handbag Concept
01:06- 02:50 Understanding Different Exercise Styles
02:51- 04:11 The Essentials of Every Exercise Handbag
04:12- 09:11 High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) and Sprint Interval Training (SIT)
09:12- 09:40 Thorne
09:41- 16:30 Scientific Benefits of HIIT and SIT for Women
16:31- 20:44 Incorporating HIIT and SIT into Your Routine
20:45- 21:23 Conclusion and Next Episode Teaser
Transcripts
Today's topic is a bit controversial,
but it is an absolute essential
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in our exercise routines as women.
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So let's dive in.
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Welcome back to Wellness.
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Fix is the pod.
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I'm your host, Dr.
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Kelsey Vic, a board certified
orthopedic doctor, physical therapy,
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and a pelvic floor physical therapist.
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And throughout the month of September,
we are going to be diving into a new
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series, one that just came to me out
of nowhere, honestly, after thinking
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about how judgmental the women's health
and exercise and fitness community can
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be in general, where if you are not.
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Team strength training or Team
Pilates or team yoga, you're wrong.
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And that's not the case.
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We all have different styles that we
enjoy, and there's a way that we can
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meet all of the foundations to help
us build healthy bodies and reach
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our goals when it comes to health
and wellness, no matter the style of
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workout or fitness that we like to do.
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So that inspired me to come up with this
concept called the exercise handbag, and
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it might seem a little bit out there, but
we all have purses and handbags, right?
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We all have certain styles that we might
like, whether it's a backpack, whether
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it's a tote, whether it's more of a
clutch or a cross body, or a shoulder bag.
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But despite the different
styles, we all typically have.
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Some of the same
components in each handbag.
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We oftentimes have some
sort of lip moisturizer.
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We have sunglasses or glasses.
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We've got our driver's license, our
wallets, we have our cell phone, maybe
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a charger, so no matter the handbag,
no matter the style of handbag that
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you prefer, a lot of the time the
essentials and the foundations that
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are inside of those handbags are
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similar across all of us,
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the same can totally be said
about our exercise routines.
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You might like Pilates, I might like
strength training and running, but we
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can incorporate some of the foundations
that should be a part of every girl's
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exercise routine in this exercise.
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Handbag, no matter the style
that we enjoy or that we find
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ourselves gravitating towards.
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So to sum it all up, we all have a
different style of exercise handbag that
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we might prefer, but the foundations
Of what we carry in that bag, stay
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the same or should stay the same.
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If our goals revolve around toning,
building muscle, losing fat, improving
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metabolism, energy, sleep, and especially
if our goals revolve around longevity.
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So that's where the exercise handbag
series fits in, and that's what we going
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over throughout the month of September.
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So we'll cover just different pillars of
the essentials that should be in each of
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our exercise handbags, and then we'll dive
into how to add that essential into your
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routine, no matter the style of exercise
or the style of movement that you like.
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My goal is to also decrease judgment
with this series because there are
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so many black and white things in
the fitness realm where it's If
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you're not doing this, you're wrong.
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If you're only doing this, you're wrong.
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There's so much fear surrounding
what exercise is right for my
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body, and I get asked all the time
about what style is right for me?
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How do I know what exercises
are right for my body?
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So my hope is that this series helps to
clear the air a little bit, give yourself
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a little bit of grace no matter what.
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Style of exercise you enjoy and realize
that you can include some of these
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essentials in your routine, in your
exercise handbag, no matter if you prefer
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Pilates or running or swimming, or bar or
cycling or dance, or any form of movement.
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So the first foundation we'll talk
about is definitely one of the
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most controversial, which is why
I wanted to start out with it.
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And it's also an email that I got from a
women's health researcher and scientist.
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Recently that really inspired
this series, it's Dr.
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Stacey Sims, and I've mentioned her on
the podcast a few times, but she is really
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one of the researchers at the forefront
of researching women's health specifically
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throughout the lifespan compared to men,
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because a lot of the time the
typical exercise recommendations
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are based on the male body and
how we understand the human body.
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A lot of the time goes back to research
that has been done on men, and so
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she's at the forefront of researching
it for a woman's body, which is why
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I was so intrigued when her email
hit my inbox and she just explained
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this concept in such a wonderful way.
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That it inspired this entire series,
and we are definitely going to start
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out talking about one of the most
controversial pillars, one of the
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most controversial essentials to have
in your exercise handbag as a woman.
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And I'm sure you've already guessed it
by now, based on the title, but we'll
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talk about high intensity interval
training and sprint interval training.
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So hit and sit both similar where we're
exercising at almost maximal level with a
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little bit of a rest break, but a lot of
the time hit and sits get a bad reputation
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because of elevation of our cortisol.
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So we'll dive into all of that too.
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Let's start off with
some simple definitions.
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So high intensity interval training is
hi and sprint interval training is sit
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so hi involves short bursts of activity,
typically 45 seconds to a few minutes
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at 85 to 90% of your heart rate max, or
85 to 90% effort, followed by usually
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a one-to-one work to recovery ratio.
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So if you like, if you do the exercise
for a minute, you're also recovering
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for a minute, but that can vary.
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But that's just a general rule of thumb.
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And as a side note, a way to calculate
that max heart rate, if you really wanna
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be a little bit more objective with it.
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A simple calculation is
two 20 minus your age.
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So 220, if you're 20 years old, minus
20 is gonna be 200 beats per minute.
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That's gonna be a hundred
percent of your max heart rate.
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And then you just take 85 to 90% of that
and there's going to be some fluctuations.
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But that's a good estimation if
you do wanna get a little bit more
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objective with those measurements.
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So for sprint interval training,
it's a shorter duration at a
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hundred percent max effort.
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So again, if you're 20 years old, 200
beats per minute is where you're going
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to shoot for that heart rate range.
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But basically max effort for 20 to 30
seconds, followed by a longer recovery,
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like two to four minutes in between.
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So why do high intensity interval
training and sprint interval
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training get a bad reputation?
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I think it comes down to cortisol.
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There's been a big push around cortisol.
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I guess propaganda and we've done an
entire series deep diving into cortisol
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and why it's a misunderstood, mean girl.
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So I'll leave that link below
to all of those episodes.
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I think we did three
or four where we truly.
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Dove into why you should not be scared
of cortisol, why cortisol is actually
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present within our bodies, what we want
to get out of cortisol elevation, how
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we can help control our cortisol, how we
can make sure we're not in a chronically
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elevated state with our cortisol, so
we cover all the science behind it.
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I'll leave that link below, but
I think that's why high intensity
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interval training and sprint interval
training get a bad reputation.
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Cortisol's.
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Truly that misunderstood, mean girl.
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We need it within our bodies,
especially to build muscle.
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We also need it in order to
have energy throughout the day.
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We need it to exercise.
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We want it to elevate during exercise,
which I think is why hit and sit have
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this sort of negative connotation.
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However, with high intensity interval
training and sprint interval training,
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what we expect and what we want with
our bodies is a momentary spike in
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cortisol, a momentary cortisol elevation.
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During that exercise followed by
our bodies being able to return
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to baseline, we do not want
sustained cortisol elevation, but.
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If we do the appropriate things
surrounding high intensity interval
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training and surrounding sprint interval
training, including a proper cool
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down, proper breath work, we should
be able to help control that cortisol
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elevation that naturally happens,
and we want to happen with exercise.
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So if you're concerned about your
cortisol levels with high intensity
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interval training or with sprint
interval training, I highly recommend
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a cool down, especially breath work
focused breath work allows us to cue
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into that parasympathetic rest digest
nervous system, which helps our cortisol
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return back to baseline after exercise.
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Over time, high intensity interval
training and sprint interval training
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have also actually been shown
to lower that baseline level of
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cortisol, so not within one session.
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We expect a spike within
each exercise session,
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But over time, the more we incorporate
HIIT and sit into our routines, the.
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Better.
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Our body adapts and it's actually
beneficial to our cortisol long term.
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So why are high intensity interval
training and sprint interval training
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so important to have as part of
our essentials and our exercise
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handbags, especially as women?
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A lot of it comes down to our skeletal
muscle and our mitochondrial density.
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As women, we naturally have
more type one skeletal muscle
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tissue fibers compared to men.
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And these type one fibers are built
more for low load long duration work.
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So think long runs your type
one skeletal muscle fibers.
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Are the ones that help with your
postural muscles and standing
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up without falling over?
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with our posture.
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You're having to hold a
position, low load, low weight
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for a long period of time.
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So these are where those type one
skeletal muscle fibers come into play.
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Men on the other hand have more
type two A and type two X fibers,
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which are known for these fast
explosive power-based movements.
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So think sprinting, jumping, those
like really quick bouts of effort.
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Those are what those type two skeletal
muscle fibers are utilized for.
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and the ones that men have
proportionally more of compared to women.
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So as we all age, men and women,
our skeletal muscle fibers start
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to shift to have more type one
muscle fibers compared to type two.
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And it's really important that
as we age, we try and maintain
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those type two skeletal muscle
fibers because they help us with.
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Catching ourselves.
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If we're about to fall standing up out
of a chair, which, you don't necessarily
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think of those as power-based activities
now, but we need that quick reaction time
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in order to help ourselves if we start
to trip over a rug or in order to get
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out of a chair, especially as we age.
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So as women, we also have a higher
mitochondrial density than men,
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meaning we are naturally shifted
to be able to handle more endurance
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based exercises better than men.
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Because we naturally have more
type one skeletal muscle fibers
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and we have a higher mitochondrial
density, we need to work.
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What we're not as good
at, if that makes sense.
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So structurally and physiologically,
we have a predisposition towards more
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of those endurance based activities, so
we really need to work on the opposite.
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So that high intense.
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That sprint intensity training in order
to help maintain and increase some
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of those type two fibers, and then
also maintain those fibers as we age
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in addition to working more of that
anaerobic system within our bodies
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that doesn't necessarily need oxygen
in order to power certain movements,
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since we do have such a high capacity
for using oxygen for our movements with
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that increased mitochondrial density,
I know that's a ton of science, but
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basically we are shifted more towards
those endurance based exercises.
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we're gonna be better at those
in general across the board
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compared to our male counterparts.
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And this is not saying you put
our top marathon runner against
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the men's top marathon runner.
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That's not what I'm saying.
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I'm saying as a massive generalization
when comparing biological sex, men have.
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More type two fibers compared to
women are typically built more
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for those power explosive based
movements where women are shifted
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more towards those type one fibers,
those more endurance based exercises.
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So since we are shifted that way, we
wanna be able to train the opposite,
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not only for the health of our
bodies currently, but also long term.
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So it boils down to if we
don't use it, we lose it.
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And when we don't have it as
much as a guy does, we definitely
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wanna train that system even more.
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So sprinting itself also helps a wide
variety of our systems, so it helps
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our bones, of course, our muscle
tissue, our joints, our nervous
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system, our mental health, our mood.
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It covers a wide range of.
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Benefits within our system.
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So it's not just that we
wanna train the opposite.
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It also provides a lot of benefits
in a short period of time compared
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to those endurance-based exercises.
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So high intensity interval training
and sprint interval training improve
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our VO two maxes, which is one
of the prime measurements for how
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well our body is able to utilize
the oxygen that is in our system.
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It's also overall a prime measurement
of how healthy our heart is.
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High intensity interval training
and sprint interval training also
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helped to increase our stroke
volume, which basically means it
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helps create a more efficient heart.
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I mentioned the other day when talking
about my own training that my heart rate
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is decreasing, with purposeful training,
I've gotten my heart rate to lower, but
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how am I able to pump the same amount
of oxygen that my body needs with a
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lower beats per minute that comes down
to stroke volume so my heart is better
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able to pump more blood out with each
beat, which is why it has a lower heart
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rate, because it can get the same cardiac
output at a lower heart rate compared
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to previously when there was a little
bit of a higher heart rate and less.
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Blood pumped out per beat
compared to right now.
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So it all comes down to stroke volume
and how much blood is actually pumped
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out per each beat of the heart.
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Hit and sit.
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Also help improve our overall metabolism
and our ability to utilize blood glucose.
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They help at recruiting.
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Of course, those often forgotten
fast twitch fibers that as we age,
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we especially don't train as much.
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It helps us protect against falls as we
age and helps protect our lean muscle mass
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and our bone mineral density, which again,
super duper important as women because we
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are at an increased risk for osteopenia,
osteoporosis, and sarcopenia, which are
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basically the terms used for weaker and
fragile bones and a loss of muscle mass.
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HIIT and sit also help improve
our brain, so it improves our
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overall executive functioning and
our ability to carry out a plan.
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It improves our mood and
mental health overall.
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It protects against Alzheimer's,
which I found this interesting in
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my research, but HIIT specifically
increases BDNF, which is brain derived
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neurotropic factors that support mood,
neuroplasticity, and overall health.
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So super cool that something
that affects our musculoskeletal
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system and our cardiovascular
system in such a short period of
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time also helps our brain health.
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It also improves working memory and
attention even after just one session.
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So if you have a super hard day at
work, it might be worth it to do a
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session of hit or sprint interval
training before in order to help your
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focus throughout the rest of the day.
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It also improves symptoms
of anxiety and depression.
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and it helps preserve certain brain
structures like the hippocampus that start
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to lose some of their volume as we age.
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So I know that was a long list of how
hit and sit help our bodies, but I hope
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it just goes to show how important it
is and really how time efficient it is.
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20 to 30 seconds of work, or two
minutes of work, or 45 seconds of
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work with a little bit of rest,
like it's very quick very time
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efficient for all of those benefits.
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So hopefully that's even more
motivating to add it to your routine
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and add it to your exercise handbag
because of how time efficient it is.
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So how should you add it to your week
for high intensity interval training?
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Again, it's about two minutes
of work at 85 to 90% of your max
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heart rate, or 85 to 90% effort
followed by two minutes of recovery.
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And you can repeat that about
five times as a typical session
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for sprint interval training.
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Now we're talking more . 30 seconds
of all out, a hundred percent effort,
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a hundred percent max heart rate,
followed by three to four minutes
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of rest, repeated about five times.
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So some of the keys to sprint interval
training and hit interval training.
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Make sure you warm up
as a physical therapist.
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I know this is so annoying to hear,
but warmups are super important
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for both high intensity interval
training and sprint interval training.
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We're asking our muscles, our joints, our
tendons, our ligaments to all respond to
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a relatively quick high velocity movement
within a very short period of time.
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There's hardly any sort of
like buildup time, right?
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Especially our muscles there.
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Expected to be contracting super
quickly at max intensity, so it's really
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important to incorporate a warmup,
especially to protect against injury.
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And then of course the cool down
because people are so concerned
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about cortisol elevation.
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A great thing to help combat.
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This is proper breath work and a proper
cool down to help cue that nervous
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system into that parasympathetic rest,
digest, muscle recovery state cortisol
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lowering state so that you can get
the benefits of HIIT without this
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sustained chronic cortisol elevation.
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And remember, hit and sit incorporated
over a longer time as part of
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your exercise routine really does
help to lower that baseline level
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of cortisol within your body.
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And then as far as times per
week, about two to four times
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per week on non-consecutive days.
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So make sure to give your body time
to rest and recover from that sprint
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interval training or that Hein interval
training in between your sessions.
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Now let's add a little bit of
flare because I know not everyone
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is like me and loves hill sprints.
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That's how I've been incorporating it.
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But I know some of you guys enjoy Pilates.
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Some of you guys enjoy
bar or sculpt classes.
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So here are some ways that you can
incorporate high intensity interval
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training or sprint interval training
into your routine, no matter the
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style of exercise that you prefer.
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So I mentioned I love hill sprints.
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You can also do an interval run
or swimming intervals, cycling
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intervals, and I usually combine
this because it is a shorter workout
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with an upper body strength day.
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If you enjoy the gym, you could do a
rower, a treadmill, a skier, something
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to basically do max effort on some
of the cardio equipment for a short
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period of time, followed by recovery,
whether that's a walk around the
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gym, whether that's just a slower
pace on the bike or on the treadmill.
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If you're an at home workout, or you
can definitely jog outside, but as far
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as inside goes, you can do squat jumps,
high knees, jump lunges, jumping jacks,
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burpees, all of those sort of body weight,
higher intensity movements at home.
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If you like sculpt classes at the
end of the class, try adding in a
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few short bursts of jumps or of those
same cardio exercises, jump lunches or
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You can also do squat jumps,
something to basically get that
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effort at 85 to a hundred percent
depending on if you're trying to
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target more of that high intensity
interval training or sprint interval.
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And then for my Pilates girls, the
reformer's great because you can
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do those jumps on the jump board.
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That's a great way to incorporate
high intensity interval training
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or sprint interval training.
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And if you can do that possibly
before a session or after a
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session, that would be great.
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That is one way to get your Pilates
based workout, but also get that
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high intensity interval training
and sprint interval training in.
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That should be an essential
component of your exercise hand bag.
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So I guess that's like a what's in my bag?
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Exercise handbag edition.
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The first thing, maybe this will be
the sunglasses or the headphones or
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00:18:48,617 --> 00:18:52,637
the cell phone that we all have in our
handbags, but high intensity interval
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training, sprint interval training.
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Definitely something to not
be scared of as a woman.
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Definitely something that is super
important no matter your age.
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Very good for us, especially as we
start pushing that perimenopause,
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menopause, postmenopausal age.
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So it does not matter
the age that you are.
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It's so beneficial for us as
women throughout the lifespan.
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And should definitely be an essential
part of your own exercise hand bag.
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So I hope you enjoyed this episode.
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I hope you've learned a lot and
are hopefully a little bit less
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scared of interval training or
understand it a little bit more
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and how it helps our bodies.
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00:19:27,877 --> 00:19:30,787
From a deeper perspective,
physiologically, musculoskeletal,
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neurologically, all of the benefits
that come from high intensity interval
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training and sprint interval training.
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00:19:35,977 --> 00:19:38,407
And then of course, ways that
you can incorporate it into your
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routine, no matter the style of
exercise handbag that you prefer.
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So I hope you enjoy this episode.
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I'll see you guys again on the
next episode of Illness Piy,
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the pod where we'll cover.
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Probably the most forgotten part of
the exercise handbag so I'm excited
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to dive in and I'll see you then.
