How To Do High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) The Right Way

Your Guide to HIIT Exercise

 

Have you ever heard of HIIT – high intensity interval training? It’s gotten a lot more popular over recent years and for good reason – there are a slew of benefits related with this type of training. A few to start are improved metabolism, increased fat loss, short workout times, and versatility of what you do! 

 

In short, you get to work out for a shorter amount of time yet get better results. AKA skip the 1 hour gym sesh for a 20 min HIIT and reap more benefits. Like what you hear? Keep reading to find out more!

 

What is HIIT?

 

HIIT, or high intensity interval training, is a type of exercise that focuses on interval training and cardiovascular exercise strategy that switches between short periods of hard effort and less intense recovery periods. HIIT combines both aerobic and anaerobic benefits. 

 

Aerobic exercise, where oxygen is used as fuel, raises your heart rate for an extended period of time. Examples of this are distance walking, jogging or running, swimming, cycling, rowing, the elliptical machine, cross-country skiing, and even Vinyasa yoga. Aerobic exercise strengthens your heart and lungs, helps burn fat, and reduces the risk of diabetes.

 

Anaerobic exercise, where oxygen levels aren’t high enough to fuel the exertion, uses your muscles at a high intensity for a short period of time. Some examples include weightlifting, resistance training, jump rope, sprinting, and boxing or kickboxing. Anaerobic exercise helps target muscle growth, builds lean muscle mass, and overall protects your skeleton and bones. 

 

HIIT’s short “ON” periods focus on intense, hard anaerobic exercise. These periods use a mix of sustained cardio movement and strength training with weights. The beauty of this training style is that it usually doesn’t last longer than 30 minutes, meaning you are getting the most bang for your buck with less time in the gym, outside, or in your home. Who doesn’t like finishing a productive workout in less than 30 minutes? 

 

A few general examples of HIIT include:

• AMRAP: workouts involving “as many reps/rounds as possible” of a circuit
• EMOM: “every minute on the minute” style workout of set reps and exercise completed on the minute (once finished, the amount of time left in the minute is your rest)
• Tabata: workouts with intervals of 20-30 seconds of hard work and 10 seconds rest per exercise. A variety of exercises can be done, with or without weight, from anywhere from 4 – 20 minutes.
• Tempo: these workouts are typically running or cycling based, with a period of time (intervals or chunk of time) at a faster pace (usually one’s “race” pace)

 

There’s no “right” way to do a HIIT workout. One of the amazing things about this type of training is that it’s YOUR unique, full effort. This is different from person to person, making HIIT easily accessible and customizable. 

 

The types of exercises you can do in HIIT are endless – running, biking, strength training, swimming, cardio exercises, and so much more. This means you can do a HIIT workout in almost any condition, inside or outside, in a gym or at home. 

 

What are the benefits of HIIT?

 

To start, the strength training component will help you build lean muscle, which is shown to improve your metabolism (check out this post to learn more about metabolism). Long story short, increasing your metabolism rate will lead to more calories burned. HIIT exercise also helps you lose body fat because of the aerobic cardio component!

 

A benefit of HIIT that might surprise you is that you can keep burning calories up to 48 hours after your workout ends. Yes, you heard me correctly. 48 hours! HIIT has a unique “afterburn” effect, meaning you keep burning calories post-workout. This effect is also called excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC), which is the amount of oxygen required to return your body to a normal level. HIIT workouts also tend to burn more calories than longer cardio sessions, so you are burning more calories during AND after your workout!

 

Another benefit of HIIT exercise is improved insulin sensitivity. This means that your cells are more sensitive to insulin, the hormone that regulates the level of blood glucose (blood sugar) in your body. Keeping your blood sugar at proper levels is extremely important for weight loss and overall health.  In addition to keeping your blood sugar under control, HIIT can also help with improving your blood pressure (another benefit for your cardiovascular health!).

 

Want to get started?

 

Here are some ideas! 

 

Running: 10 to 20 minutes of one minute intervals 

• 20-30 seconds at a fast run/spring
• 30-40 seconds off as recovery
• One round = one minute (an ON and OFF interval)

 

Strength Training: You can complete this with low weight or bodyweight! Between each movement, rest 30 seconds – this is an edited version of one of Whitney Simmon’s HIIT workouts.

• 20 squat to shoulder press (thruster)
• 20 side lunges with a bicep curl (left side)
• 20 side lunges with a bicep curl (right side)
• 10 pushups with 2 mountain climbers in between pushups
• 12 front raises to burpee (not jump at the top of the burpee)

You can repeat this 2-3 times for a fun strength and cardio combination workout.

 

Cardio: Complete each move 20 seconds on, 10 seconds rest for a total of 10 minutes. This should be 5 complete rounds, but do what feels right to you.

• Burpees
• High knees
• Mountain climbers
• Jump squat