Can +40 year olds do HITT training?

Cortisol... the new rage word and fear mongering word in exercise.

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When engaging in High intensity workouts your cortisol levels will raise, but over time of the same HITT workout the rate at which ill will spike will lower as you become fitter.

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True High intensity workouts such as Tabata training or Interval training are in splits of 20swork/10s rest or 30s work/ 30s rest. Pushed at true intensity you will only be able to keep up the level of performance from 15-30minutes. You ideally want to do this 1-2 days a week nothing more.

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This is where i see the issue with those wanting to include it, the go hard go home method.... Where you smash 4-6 days of high intensity which is a one way road to burning yourself out or causing injury.

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Including HITT workouts can help improve your VO2 max as well as improving your bodies ability to flush through the lactic acid build up "the burn" especially when it comes to running or endurance style workouts.

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The way you could include this style of training into your workout schedule is by doing 2-3 strength days per week then having one day of HITT training. If you are short of time you could include it in one of your 3 strength days by shortening the amount you do in the strength session so 30minute weights finishing off with 30minute of HITT. This is also great if you are short of time and want to get maximal cardiovascular benefits.

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So in short yes you can still include this style of training, just aim to build up into it not going full hog at the start and allowing for adequate recovery through water, sufficient nutrition