HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training)

What is HIIT? Is it for me? Where do I start?

As you gear up to get started on your workout program, one type of training that you must make sure you’re giving some thought and consideration to is HIIT training.  HIIT, which stands for high intensity interval training, is a type of training that is going to push the boundaries on your physical capabilities all while taking your fitness level to heights that you have not experienced before.

While HIIT training is not suitable for someone who is brand new to fitness as it does require a base level of fitness first before you attempt these sessions, once that base is in place, it’s time to move upwards and give HIIT training a try.

Let’s look at what you need to know about HIIT training.

Benefits of HIIT

Shorter workouts

- Athletes who use HIIT to condition are able to achieve the same conditioning performance increases in less time compared to traditional endurance type workouts. Now I didn’t say it would be easier just take less time!

Burns more body fat

– Imagine if I told you that you could exercise for 20-30 minutes instead of plodding away on the treadmill for hours and you would burn more body fat! Research at Laval University showed that HIIT burns more body fat. This is great because it allows you to burn body fat without tearing down muscle through endurance training.

Increase metabolic rate

– HIIT increase metabolic rate due to excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC) for the following 24 hours after a workout. Traditional steady cardio only burns while you are doing it, while this will take your workout and burn all the way throughout the next day. A study by Florida State University (Tallahassee) researchers at the 2007 Annual Meeting of the American College Sports Medicine (ACSM) found that the subjects who did HIIT burned 10% more calories during the 24 hours after the workout then the steady state team; however, the same amout of calories were burned during the workout itself.

Among other physiological benefits, evidence shows that HIIT to increase peak oxygen uptake (VO2 Max) and increase lactic acid threshold.  This type of exercise improves the way muscles use the oxygen to utilize fuel in mitochondria the power stations of the cell. It widens the network of vessels supplying muscle cells and boosts the number of mitochondria in them so that you can work with less fatigue, strain and is highly important to reduce risk of heart attack or stroke.

Structuring Your Workouts

First let’s go over the structure of your workout sessions.  To do HIIT, you’ll want to alternate between periods of very intense training and periods of less intense training. So for example, you could perform 30 seconds going at an all-out pace and then take 60 seconds to perform much lower intensity exercise for your ‘active recovery’ period.  Typically your active recovery should be about twice as long as your work interval and you should perform five to ten of these total per HIIT training session.

Each training session should also begin with a five minute warm-up along with a five minute cool-down.  As they are incredibly intense in nature, it’s vital that you don’t dive into them too quickly before your body has had a chance to warm up as this can just increase your risk of a muscle tear or strain.

Nutritional Considerations

Moving along, the next thing to keep in mind is that since this workout is so intense, you are going to have to be looking at your nutrition as well. These should be treated just as you would a weight lifting workout, having some pre-workout of protein and amino acids to help ensure that your body takes the energy from fat and not your muscle. Don’t forget a post-workout protein and carbs after the session.

After the session will be especially important as this will kick-start the recovery process and ensure you are providing your body with the nutrients it needs to repair the damaged muscle tissues as well as restore muscle glycogen.

It really depends on what your meal plan is and what the goal at the current time for exactly what you eat, but these are some basic guidelines.

Program Planning

Finally, the last thing to keep in mind as you go about your HIIT training is that you’ll need to integrate this into your plan properly.  You can’t expect to do three or four weight lifting workouts per week plus three or four HIIT workouts per week and still maintain a recovered state.

You need to strike a good balance between the HIIT and weight lifting workouts, along with periods of rest days or lower intensity exercise.

Aim to have a total of four to five intense workouts per week, divided up between weight lifting and/or HIIT and then schedule your rest days around that.

If you can follow these principles and implement some HIIT training into your workout program, it will only be a short matter of time before you start seeing phenomenal results because of it.

This is a great fitness resource.

If you have any questions feel free to ask one of our trainers to explain the fitness science.