PHA and HIIT, 12 weeks
Non-randomised pilot. 24 moderately active adults, three sessions a week. Both groups changed shape. HIIT dropped more skinfold; PHA increased arm girth and mesomorphy.
Research Studies
Research Studies
Peripheral Heart Action has been studied in labs and training halls across the last thirty years. The first peer-reviewed PHA trial was published in 2015. The papers below are studies of that method — the method PHA+ is built on. They did not test the branded PHA+ 19-station, 75-minute clock.
Trials and empirical papers
PHA in a school setting
A PHA circuit over about six months was associated with a drop in body-fat percentage versus no PHA programme. This paper is listed as literature. PHA+ public copy stays a busy professional or older adult — we do not market the protocol to minors from this card.
A metabolic profile of PHA
Acute crossover. 20 resistance-trained adults. Volume-matched PHA versus traditional hypertrophy work. PHA produced higher oxygen uptake, heart rate, effort, after-burn and lactate, and finished in less time.
Older women: PHA and yoga
Forty obese postmenopausal women, mean age 65.3. Eight weeks. PHA and yoga both improved a lung-function measure (FEV1) and an inflammation marker (CRP) versus no exercise. No difference between the two training arms.
Aerobic dance plus PHA — conference paper
Eleven students, six weeks, dance once a week and PHA twice. Combined protocol, not PHA alone. Small mean shifts in aerobic capacity and BMI. Do not read this as a PHA-only trial.
Women with high blood pressure
Twenty women, age 38–46. PHA sessions versus no exercise. Pressure fell in the PHA group. Strength and body composition improved versus control. This is another lab’s finding on the method. PHA+ is not a treatment and does not prevent heart attacks.
Men with high blood pressure
Twenty-three men, age 38–43, 36 sessions. Pressure and skinfolds fell. Strength improved versus control. A separate cohort from the women’s paper, same direction.
The first peer-reviewed PHA trial
Randomised. 18 young adults. Thirty sessions across three months. PHA versus cycle HIIT. PHA raised strength and VO2max and shifted resting autonomic measures toward vagal control. Report what the paper measured — not “scientifically proven safer than HIIT.”
Reviews and practitioner papers
PHA for fitness and health
Practitioner review, not a new trial. ACSM’s journal frames PHA as a simple circuit that may improve aerobic fitness, body composition, blood pressure, heart-rate variability and muscular strength.
What’s old is new again
A plain-English reading of Piras 2015, written for fitness professionals.
Peripheral Heart Action was set out by Arthur Steinhaus in the mid-twentieth century and carried into gyms by Bob Gajda in the 1960s. That is origin, not a last-thirty-years trial.
PHA+ is an exercise protocol. It is not a treatment, a diagnosis, or a substitute for medical care. Get clearance from your doctor before you start. PHA+ does not prevent heart attacks and does not replace your GP. The papers on this page study Peripheral Heart Action as a training method. They are not evidence that PHA+ treats disease.