High Intensity Interval Training, commonly abbreviated as HIIT, is an exercise routine designed to give you a well-balanced, versatile workout. For one, HIIT is excellent for weight loss, because you'll burn a large amount of calories, due to the intensity of the workout. What makes HIIT special, though, is that the intensity of the workout also causes a lot of muscle exertion; low to medium intensity cardio exercises burn both calories and muscle mass, but HIIT increases the muscle mass in your legs to help combat that, and give you really strong legs. Muscle mass is important, because having more muscle burns slightly more calories at rest, and too little muscle mass will leave you feeling puny and weak. The more you develop your muscles during weight loss routines, the less likely it becomes that your body will burn muscle mass, and more likely that it will burn calories, resulting in quicker weight loss. HIIT also tends to burn less carbohydrates than low to medium intensity cardio, which also helps speed up weight loss. It's good for endurance training, as well, and personally, I have found that it has also helped slightly reduce my asthma symptoms. HIIT improves both your aerobic and anaerobic endurance. HIIT is good for bulking up, too, because it's an effective workout for your legs, and it helps ensure the bulk you're gaining is a minimum amount of fat.
No exercise is perfect for everyone, though. HIIT puts a lot of pressure on the joints; this is negligable for most people, but older people with joint issues and very large people can encounter problems. The normal medical risks of running and sprinting apply. As it's name states, it's a very high intensity exercise, so it's tough for people that are really out of shape, especially so if you're obese. I went from weighing 262 pounds and being extremely out of shape when I started, and after about 3 months of medium intensity jogging (supplemented with weight lifting, beginning with 5 pound weights and working up to 15), I weighed about 240, and I was able to complete a beginner HIIT exercise routine with much difficulty, but by the 4th time, it got much easier.
This is all fine and good, but I can tell you're probably wondering what, exactly, High Intensity Interval Training is. It consists of high intensity workouts being done in intervals; you do some warmup exercises, then begin the intervals by doing whatever exercise you're doing at the very highest intensity you can manage for a short period of time, then you slow down to a medium pace for a short period of time, then repeat the desired number of intervals. Any cardio workout can benefit from HIIT techniques; I like sprinting in place. I started out with this routine:
15 minutes jogging, medium pace
30 seconds sprinting as fast as I can
1 minutes, 30 seconds jogging at medium pace
I did 6 intervals, so it looked more like this:
15 minutes jogging, medium pace
30 seconds sprinting as fast as I can
1 minutes, 30 seconds jogging at medium pace
30 seconds sprinting
1 minutes, 30 seconds jogging
30 seconds sprinting
1 minutes, 30 seconds jogging
30 seconds sprinting
1 minutes, 30 seconds jogging
30 seconds sprinting
1 minutes, 30 seconds jogging
30 seconds sprinting
1 minutes, 30 seconds jogging
I've been doing that for a few weeks, and I saw significant weight loss from it, as well as my legs becoming much stronger. My calves went from very flabby to hard as a brick in mere weeks. I've begun lifting 20 pound weights this week, and even so, my legs are more muscle-bound than my arms. When you get more into it, you'll wanna do more intervals with less recovery time; less recovery time keeps your heart beating at the proper rate for this exercise.
Today, as part of my new year's resolution, I'm going to change it up to doing 8 intervals, with 60 second rest periods. Wish me luck!
Update: It was grueling, especially the first time, but I got through the exercises. Yay me! My leg muscles feel even stronger.
I think the ideal range to shoot for is somewhere around a dozen 30 second sprinting/30 second jogging intervals. If you go over 14 such intervals, you're likely not truly doing the exercise at your highest intensity, or you're training for the Olympics. Stepping up your routine at 2 week intervals is a good pace. |