s a personal trainer has exposed me to many different approaches to working out. In terms of increasing strength and burning fat, high Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) is vastly superior to other forms of exercise. It is extremely effective at burning calories because the heart rate is increased to a level optimal for fat utilization (burning fat!). Also, when you are in a resting period during the workout, the heart is given a chance to decrease its beats per minute (BPM). Increasing and decreasing your BPM makes the heart much more effective at pumping more oxygen per beat (VO2 max). One of the greatest benefits of interval training is that it makes your body burn calories for hours after your workout. HIIT is sometimes referred to as Surge or Burst Training and involves both cardio exercises as well as exercises with weights. Although HIIT is an approach to working out that has been around for a while, has not really caught on. Spending an hour walking on a treadmill is certainly better than doing nothing at all, but in terms of exercise, it definitely wastes a lot of valuable time. The most important distinction between HIIT and other forms of interval training is the amount of time needed for a workout. Excluding warmups and cool downs, HIIT lasts no longer than 20 minutes.Some key points to make HIIT as effective as possible:
- Keep it under 20 minutes - 20 minutes may not seem like a long enough time to get an effective workout in, but keep in mind that “the goal of HIIT is to keep an anaerobic state (without oxygen) for a long cumulative time.” During a 20 minute workout an average person would spend maybe 10 to 12 minutes at a hard pace, beginners would start at about 6 to 9 minutes and work their way up.
- Know how hard you need to be working - During your sprint stages you should be working at a level 10 out of 10, beginners would want to start at about an 8 and work their way up to 10. During your rest stages you will want to drop down to around a 3. To get an idea of what each number would be think of it as 1 is pretty much standing still, 5 is a light jog and 10’s running as if a lion was chasing you for dinner.
- Use major muscle groups - When doing HIIT, it is best to use larger muscle groups because the workout aims "to tap the energy sources found inside the muscle. The larger the muscle group being exercised, the more the benefit.” Muscle groups from largest to smallest are legs, back, core, chest, and arms.
- Do HIIT every second day - It is important to allow your muscles to recover after a HIIT workout. Remember, your are working your muscles as hard as they can go for an extended amount of time. If your muscles are not given the opportunity to replenish all of the energy they lost, your next workout will be ineffective.
- Remember to eat right - For a long time, it was thought that the most effective way to burn fat was to do HIIT on an empty stomach, but research has shown that those assumptions are totally incorrect. It is best to eat something light and easily digestible 30 minutes before training. I like a protein shake or a piece of grilled chicken.
- Warm up - Warming up is extremely important when training. I cannot stress this enough. Imagine grabbing a rubber band that has been sitting in the freezer for a few hours. What would happen if you stretched the rubber band to its limits. SNAP! Now imagine what would happen if you stretched the rubber band lightly for a few minutes before going to its limits. Your muscles are the just like that rubber band. If you do not give them enough time to warm up they too can snap. Also, save stretching for when your workout is finished. Stretching when you’re cold will only lead to pulling a muscle.
- Cool down - When I was younger, I never really understood the importance of a good cool down. It wasn’t until after a track practice my junior year of high school that I realized how valuable it was. We were doing 800 meter interval sprints with 400 meter rests. After we finished I just sat down without stretching. When I got up, my legs were like bags of cement and because my heart rate dropped too fast, I got sick. A cool down only takes 5 minutes and it will really help decrease soreness.
- Alternate interval routines - Like all types of workouts, the routine needs to be changed after 6 to 8 weeks. There are several types of HIIT programs and changing them up will keep the muscles guessing and achieve greater results. The routines include 30 second intervals, 60 second intervals, tabata training, and Body for Life HIIT. These routines will be discussed in depth in future blogs.
- http://www.intervaltraining.net/Interval_training_for_beginners.html
- http://www.intervaltraining.net/highintensityintervaltraining.html
