High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) workouts might initially sound intense (HIIT stands for High-Intensity Interval Training), but they’re a fantastic way to achieve significant results in less time.
Exercise more often if you start learning more about and discovering its benefits.
But can you find a proper time to exercise? We all know that it can be a challenge, especially considering how much time our daily lives can demand.
Fortunately, high-intensity interval training is a fantastic kind of exercise since it combines shorter bursts of activity with greater intensities and shorter rest intervals, allowing you to get the benefits of exercise in a shorter amount of time.
High-intensity interval training has quickly become one of the most popular forms of exercise for any fitness level, whether a beginner or a skilled athlete.
Let’s learn more about this workout and its benefits for changing our fitness routine and adding excitement.
What Are HIIT Workouts?
To briefly explain, HIIT is a short burst with significant results!
High-intensity interval Training involves alternating short bursts of intense exercise with periods of rest or recovery at a lower intensity. It is similar to traditional cardio, which has two approaches: steady-state and intervals.
Steady-state training keeps your effort level and heart rate consistent for longer. Intervals, on the other hand, involve switching gears. Imagine sprinting at the track followed by a recovery jog—interval training.
HIIT takes interval training to the next level by maximizing effort and intensity. During a HIIT session, you push yourself to 80-95% of your maximum heart rate for those short bursts. This classic approach, often used by runners, involves sprinting followed by recovery jogs.
But the beauty of HIIT is its versatility; You can adapt it to any cardio activity, like cycling, swimming, or using an elliptical.
In short, HIIT allows you to achieve significant results in a shorter time by combining powerful bursts of exercise with recovery periods.
Now, let’s familiarize ourselves with the tasks involved in HIIT workout sessions! Can I perform high-intensity interval workouts at home?
How To Do High-Intensity Interval Workouts?
Are you looking for a sample workout to help you start High-Intensity Interval Training ? Are you ready to test it?
In this part, we have added a breakdown of how to structure your workout and a sample routine to get you started.
To start HIIT workouts, you can:
- Warm-Up (5-10 minutes): Jogging, jumping jacks, or arm circles are great forms of light cardio that help you raise your heart rate and relax your muscles for your workout.
- The HIIT Cycle: This is the core of your workout. Here’s the basic structure:
- Work Interval: Push yourself to 80-95% of your maximum heart rate for a short duration (e.g., 20-30 seconds). This could be sprints, jumping jacks, burpees, or any exercise that gets your heart pumping.
- Rest Interval: Allow your body to recover with a lower-intensity exercise or complete rest for a similar or slightly longer duration (e.g., 30-45 seconds). Light walking, jogging in place, or slow marching are good options.
- Repetitions: Repeat the work-rest cycle for a predetermined number of sets (e.g., 6-8 sets).
- Cool-Down (5-10 minutes): Slow down your heart rate with gentle aerobics and static stretching to increase flexibility and decrease muscle pain.
This is the general rule for creating a HIIT session for yourself, but we won’t stop here. The following section contains an example for those without an idea of how to start HIIT.
HIIT Workout Sample
Now it is time to show you a sample HIIT workouts:
This beginner-friendly routine focuses on bodyweight exercises and can be done anywhere:
- Warm-Up (5 minutes): Light jogging or jumping jacks
Starting the HIIT Cycle (you can do it in 3 sets):
- Work (30 seconds): High Knees (Run in place, bringing knees up high towards your chest)
- Rest (45 seconds): Walking on the spot
- Work (30 seconds): Jumping Jacks
- Rest (45 seconds): Light marching
- Work (30 seconds): Squats
- Rest (45 seconds): Walking on the spot
- Work (30 seconds): Mountain Climbers (Run in place, bringing alternating knees towards chest)
- Rest (45 seconds): Light marching
Cool-Down (5 minutes): Light jog or walking followed by static stretches for major muscle groups (legs, back, shoulders, arms)
When you do this workout sample, you must make sure that you can alter and adjust the work/rest intervals, exercise selection, and number of sets based on your fitness level and goals. We just tried to explain how to start high-intensity interval workouts.
You can increase the work interval duration or decrease the rest period as you strengthen.
What Are the HIIT Workout Benefits?
Here comes the most exciting part! Knowing how high-intensity interval workouts affect your body and how they can help your fitness journey will help you maintain consistency, increase your motivation, and ignore tiredness while doing HIIT.
While many love (High-Intensity Interval Training) for its time efficiency (think 20 minutes of HIIT vs. 45 minutes on the stair climber), the benefits extend far beyond saved minutes, so let’s explore them in the following section.
The advantages of HIIT on the body:
Burn More Calories in Less Time
Studies show that HIIT burns up to 30% more calories per minute than steady-state cardio. This means you can torch the same number of calories in a shorter workout, which is excellent for weight loss goals.
1. The Afterburn Effect
The other most crucial advantage of HIIT workouts is that they can elevate your metabolism and keep you burning more calories even after you cool down.
2. Fat Loss & Muscle Gain
Not only can you aim for your fat-burning goals, but HIIT can surely help you gain muscles, particularly for those who are new to exercise.
3. Boost Your Cardio Health
No matter your fitness level, high-intensity interval training benefits your cardiovascular health. It significantly impacts blood pressure and resting heart rate, especially for those with weight or cardiovascular concerns.
4. Enhanced Oxygen Consumption
Over all of these advantages, HIIT speaks first in improving oxygen consumption compared to traditional cardio workouts.
To Conclude
If you aim to live healthier lives through effective exercise, you can include HIIT workouts in your routine.
As you can see and as we mentioned in this article, they offer many benefits to your overall health and help you lose fat and burn calories quickly.
However, we recommend keeping a balance and including a portion of all effective workouts on your plate based on your abilities.
If you have any questions regarding the High-Intensity Interval Training or the HIIT workout sample we added above, ask us in the comments and share your experience if you are already familiar with this super workout.
