HIIT is a wonderful, safe and effective workout. However, there’s no need for HIIT to be done every day. Keep it to three times per week. In this way, you’ll still reap the benefits and give your body time to properly recover.
HIIT Workouts
There are two main types of HIIT. These are ‘aerobic HIIT’ and ‘bodyweight HIIT’. Both of these types of training are highly intensive forms of exercise. ‘Aerobic HIIT’ encompasses exercise modalities such as spinning classes, cycling, swimming and track-based running. ‘Bodyweight HIIT’ are exercises such as Tabata, CrossFit and boot camp training.
Why Does HIIT Improve Cardio Health?
Basic aerobic training gets the heart rate into the “training zone” of between 65 and 75% of the individual’s maximum heart rate. This has proven benefits for cardiovascular efficiency, which benefits the entire body. HIIT just improves the efficiency of this training.
HIIT may assist with improving heart health in people with good health, as well as in those who suffer from cardiovascular conditions. HIIT cardio may also help improve measures of metabolic health, which include blood pressure, blood sugar levels as well as cholesterol.
A study which was conducted about 15 years ago found that a 10-week program of HIIT workouts produced cardiovascular as well as metabolic benefits which were very similar to those of moderate-intensity workouts.
In the study, a total of 90 people – who were previously physically inactive – completed either a HIIT programme or a traditional, moderate-intensity continuous training (MICT) programme. The average entire exercise time of 55 minutes every week for the HIIT programme was not more than half of that for the MICT, which took the individuals in the study an average of 128 minutes per week.
Is HIIT The Best Exercise Regiment For Weight Loss?
One of the great many reasons why HIIT workouts are so popular is as they’re extremely effective for weight loss. When you’re trying to lose weight, you want to burn fat as well as build lean muscle in order to continue to burn more fat.
HIIT forces your body to make use of energy from fat rather than carbs. This makes losing fat far more efficient. On a diet, it’s quite challenging to lose fat while maintaining the muscle. However, studies have demonstrated that with HIIT, you are able to preserve those well-deserved muscles while also burning the greatest amount of fat.
Not only are you burning an increased number of calories during a HIIT workout – as opposed to with steady cardio – but the effect of all that intense exertion will mean that your body keeps working long after you’re done with your exercise for the day. The HIIT workout means that your body will remain in a fat-burning mode for up to 24 hours after your workout. This means that you burn more fat and calories as opposed to what you would after a steady pace run.
How Long Should You Do HIIT For?
Typically, a High Intensity Interval Workout should take you between 30 and 60 minutes, including a warm-up and cool down. The high intensity portion of your workout should usually be done within 15 to 20 minutes. If the workout is going on for longer, you may not be pushing yourself to the intended intensity — and probably not giving yourself the opportunity to reap the most benefits.
As we’ve said before, the goal of HIIT is to elevate your heart rate into a zone which is close to that of your maximum heart rate in the work periods. Your goal heart rate zone is a personal guideline, which means that getting close to your maximum heart rate might be something to work towards. Initially, you could aim to get your heart rate within the lower end of the target heart rate zone as a beginning point.
HIIT workouts can also be tailored through varying the work-to-rest ratios. For instance, beginners may make use of a 1:2 ratio, training all-out for 60 seconds and then resting for twice as long. Individuals who have been doing HIIT for longer may changeover to a 1:1 ratio – that is, training at a high intensity for 60 seconds and the resting for 60 seconds before repeating.
As you advance with HIIT training, you could choose to begin shortening the work periods slightly — for instance, going from 60 seconds to 45 seconds. Shorter work periods means that you are able to reach a higher intensity as you don’t have to sustain the work period for as long.
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