Are you wondering what this "HIIT" I rave about is?
HIIT stands for High Intensity Interval Training & it's THE way, THE WAY, to lose fat. I absolutely love it.
Basically, what you do, (after you warm up, of course) that you work ANAEROBICALLY for a short burst and then have an active recovery period. Generally speaking, you may sprint for 30 seconds and then jog or walk for 1 minute. You would repeat this workout routine numerous times for the best effect.
Anaerobic literally means "without oxygen" so when I say you work anaerobically, I mean you're are GOING AS FAST AS YOU CAN GO. I want you sucking wind by the end of the 30 seconds, kid!!
If you're NOT sucking wind, you just worked aerobically. Still good, NOT the purpose of HIIT, however. Still, if you're new to HIIT, it's understandable that you start slower. I actually don't run as much as I used to but I did go a few weeks ago after having gone without running for, uh, a good while. I was worried. But the wonderful bonus about HIIT is that it builds your endurance and your cardiovascular strenght so I actually ran faster and longer than I had before.
So WHY anaerobically?? Ben Greenfield of "Quick and Dirty Tips" explains it like this:
“When you exercise, your body uses oxygen to create energy. But when you reach a high intensity during exercise, your body’s demand for oxygen exceeds your ability to breathe in that much oxygen and deliver it to the muscles. When this happens, your body goes into an “oxygen debt.” Once you go into oxygen debt, not only do your muscles begin to burn and you begin to breathe hard, but you also put your body into a state where it needs to “repay” that oxygen debt after exercise….when you breathe more and breathe deeper, your body burns more calories. Depending on how hard you’ve worked, this oxygen repaying can help you burn anywhere from a few dozen to over a hundred extra calories each hour after you exercise, for up to 24 hours after you’ve finished!”
Imagine having that afterburn effect where your metabolism is working fast and your burning mega amounts of fat for 24 hours after a HIIT! Wow. Amazing because your average HIIT workout is between 15-30 minutes long.
I do want to mention, however, that you DO NOT do HIIT every single day. You'll over train and you'll be more prone to injury. Please stretch afterwards for 5-10 minutes and keep your stretching to a minimum BEFORE you begin. Warm-up, though.
Some people like to do 30 seconds of HIIT workout then actively rest.
Others, like me, like to do several HIIT's in 45 seconds then rest for 60 seconds.
Research and play around with it. Do what you prefer but keep it challenging.
A sample HIIT of what I do is this:
SPRINT - 8 counts/seconds
JUMPING JACKS - 4 counts/sec.
BURPEES - 4 cnt/sec.
SPRINT - 8 cnt/sec.
KNEE TUCK JUMPS - 6 cnt/sec.
SPRINT - 8 cnt/sec
MOUNTAIN CLIMBERS - 8 cnt/sec.
ACTIVELY REST - 60 seconds
REPEAT.
Now you can repeat the above HIIT workout one more time, twice, as many times as you want. I'd say 3 times. Then do a different HIIT workout, repeat 3 times. You can either finish there or do yet another HIIT workout, repeat 3 times.
I put 8 counts OR seconds because while you need to go as fast as you possibly can, it's not going to take the exact amount of seconds to do several counts. Challenge yourself but be aware of what your body (NOT MIND!) is telling you. So if I say "Sprint, 8 counts", I literally mean, "Count 1-2-3-4-5-6--7-8", & NEXT.
Always remember to keep good form/technique. You don't want to hurt yourself.
Again, finish up by stretching. I can't stress that enough. I also want to recommend you buy, wear and utilize a heart monitor so you know how many calories you've burned.
I hope this blog helps y'all out if you've been wondering about HIIT. If you've got any questions, please post here or on my facebook, Alegria Fitness.
*Always consult your physician before starting a new workout program.
