What is HIIT?
ALL THESE WORKOUT TERMS… HELP!
No worries, I am here to explain today.
HIIT, short for High Intesity Interval Training, is a useful cardio tool. HIIT is an interval training technique that you put all out effort into short burst of exercises that is followed by short rest or even active rest periods. This type of training burns more fat in the same about of time of a regular workout. This is due to EPOC, excess post oxygen consumption. HIIT reguires your body to increase oxygen consumption to such a significant rate that during rest, EPOC is still burning calories know as an afterburn effect. That is why HIIT can burn more calories and even with rest periods in between the working sets compared to steady state cardio!
Personally, I LOVE HIIT. I love the feeling of getting my heart rate up, getting my sweat on and working past the moments of doubt.
Here are some more benefits of HIIT below:
- Increase metabolism. SOLD.
- Reduce insulin resistance.
- Increased cardiovascular health.
- Do it anywhere. Yep, no gym needed!
- Quick and easy.
Working off of that last point now, quick and easy.
Did you know that an average HIIT can last as long as you want but if you are TRULY putting in 100% effort, your workouts shouldn’t last more that 30 minutes. If they are, you are most likely doing a circuit style of training (which is still very effective). Remember, the bursts are unsustainable amounts of energy that can not be performed for a period of time longer than a few minutes.
HIIT can be done in many ways. You can do body weight style exercises, on a treadmill or a stationary bike. You can do short bursts of fast walking or sprinting inside of out, and the list goes on. The style and intensity is all dependent on the person. You want your heart rate to be about 85 to 90% max heart rate. If you are a beginner and want a tough workout, try fast walking at an incline for a minute on and then a minute off! It is THAT simple!
HIIT is very exhausting on the body so should NOT be over performed. Rest and recovery is very important with this style since it is to taxing. If you are new to working out and this style of training, it is suggested to only perform this 1-2x a week starting off.
Popular interval styles might include:
- 20 sec on/ 10 rest (Like a Tabata class)
- 30 sec on/ 30 rest
- 30 sec on/ 30 active rest
- 1 min on/ 1 min rest
If you remember to utilize a 1:1 ratio or something close to it, you are measuring out the time fine.
Using HIIT for myself and with my clients is a no brainer. It is a great tool and wonderful for someone short on time, wants to tone up, increase cardio health, or that needs to lose weight. If you are interested in trying this out, go check on my workout tab. I have multiple different workouts that you can utilize.
I hope that this helped clarify some questions you might have had.
Until next time.
