Benefits of HIIT

HIIT, or high-intensity interval training, is a training technique in which you give all-out, one hundred percent effort through quick, severe bursts of exercise, followed by short, sometimes active, recovery periods. This type of training gets and keeps your heart rate up and burns more fat in less time. A high-intensity workout increases the body’s need for oxygen during the effort and creates an oxygen shortage, causing your body to ask for more oxygen during recovery. This afterburn effect is referred to as excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC) and is the reason why intense exercise will help burn more fat and calories than regular aerobic and steady-state workouts.

Benefits of HIIT –

1. Build Endurance

Your V02 max is a measure of endurance. It calculates the maximum amount of oxygen your body can use and is also a big signifier of overall health. Several studies have come to the same conclusion. High-intensity interval training leads to significant improvements in V02 max compared to other forms of exercise in a shorter time.

Traditionally, endurance training has been used to boost oxygen consumption. This would be long and continuous sessions of running or cycling at a steady pace. But, HIIT can produce the same effects and in a shorter period. Not only do you improve your oxygen consumption with HIIT, but you can do it in half the time of traditional forms of endurance training.

2. Flexible and Convenient Exercise

HIIT can sometimes sound a bit intimidating to new gym-goers. But, HIIT isn’t just for hard-core fitness junkies. An advantage of HIIT is that you can tailor and customize it to your needs and abilities. By changing the time intervals and intensity of training, it can be entirely approachable for all levels of fitness. The goal of HIIT is to get your heart rate pumping, and how this happens will look different for everyone.

As HIIT can cater to so many abilities, classes can vary in difficulty. To find out if the interval is intense enough for you, measure your heart rate. It should be spiked, and you should find it difficult to speak. Although uncomfortable, this is a sign that you’re pushing your body. Boutique studios like Orangetheory Fitness provide heart rate monitoring equipment, which makes it easier for clients to know when to rest and when to push themselves.

3. Lose Fat Not Muscle 

A significant reason why a lot of people choose to do HIIT over other forms of exercise is because of its fat-burning and muscle building effects. When you’re trying to lose weight, it can be challenging to lose fat without your muscles taking a cut as well. It appears that steady-state cardio encourages muscle loss, whereas HIIT and weight training preserve muscle while ensuring maximum weight loss.

4. Lower Heart Rate and Blood Pressure 

There’s a large body of research that suggests HIIT can help to reduce heart rate and blood pressure. In the short term, when you workout, HIIT will increase blood pressure. However, over an extended period of time, you should notice a decrease in blood pressure. The main reason that HIIT helps with blood pressure is down to its ability to reduce the stiffness of the artery walls, leading to a reduction in blood pressure.

When your heart is pounding faster and faster, it can be hard for people to really push themselves. Interval training makes it that little bit easier as it includes rest periods in between high-intensity exercises. Over time, this can help to lower the resting heart rate, improving overall health, and reduce the chances of developing a heart condition. One study found that a HIIT exercise program is superior to moderate-intensity continuous training (MICT) in improving heart rate.

5. No Equipment Needed 

This one benefits everyone from gym-goers and personal trainers to fitness studio owners. Although you can use equipment during a HIIT session, you don’t need any for a sweaty workout. This is ideal for fitness businesses like outdoor bootcamps that rely on an open space without equipment.

Running and bodyweight exercises are both perfect for HIIT and don’t require any equipment. Movements like high knees or jumping lunges can quickly get your heart rate up. You can perform a HIIT workout anywhere at any time, adding to the convenience of this type of training. You can sneak in a workout in the morning, lunch, or evening that fits entirely around your schedule.

6. Increase Metabolism and Higher Metabolic Rate After Exercise 

Who doesn’t love to burn calories after exercising? One way HIIT helps you do this is by keeping your metabolic rate raised after you’ve finished your session. Numerous studies have shown that HIIT can keep your metabolic rate elevated for hours after exercise. Due to the sheer intensity of HIIT workout, your body can burn additional calories as you get on with your day.

7. Boost Heart Health 

The majority of people aren’t used to pushing themselves into the anaerobic zone; that feeling where it feels like you can’t breathe and you might collapse on the floor. Extreme training can produce extreme results. After eight weeks of HIIT workouts, participants could cycle for twice as long as they could before the study started.

From improving cardiovascular fitness and burning fat to reducing heart rate and blood pressure, there are countless reasons to offer HIIT workouts to your clients. The benefits of HIIT are undeniable, and by adding these types of workouts to your clients’ regular routines, they can reap the rewards. High-intensity interval training provides a flexible and convenient way to see results and stay motivated in a shorter period of time.

How to do HIIT workout –

Burpee

Stand with your feet hip-width apart. Squat down and place your hands on the floor, and jump your feet back so that you’re in a plank. Do one push-up. Jump your feet back to your hands, and from this crouched position jump up as high as you can.

Jump squat

Start standing with your feet slightly wider than hip-width distance, with toes turned out. Lower down into a squat position until your butt is just below your knees. Jump up quickly, landing as softly as possible back into a squat, without letting your knees fall in toward each other.

Plank and hollow-hold combo

Get in a high plank position with shoulders over wrists, creating a straight line from shoulders to heels. Engage the core. After 20 seconds, rest 10 seconds, then go into a hollow hold. Begin lying face up, with legs fully extended and arms overhead, one palm stacked on top of the other. Engage your abs and round your spine, lifting your head, neck, shoulders, and legs off the floor to make a C shape with your body. Your arms should stay extended by your ears.

Hiit works on your whole body, not just one part. This is the best workout for people who are working out in home. It increases you strength. It doesn’t need any equipment. It gives you result in very less duration without any equipment.