Looking for the best way to exercise in a short amount of time and get the most out of it? If you haven’t already heard of HIIT Training, it’s all the rage at the moment, and for a great reason.
The basic theory of High Intensity Interval Training is to use high energy in short bursts. A HIIT workout may be as short as 7 minutes at a time, but the idea is to work at an 80% or more capacity, for most if not all of that time.
While it seems like an easy work out, HIIT training mixes up short bursts of high intensity exercises with low intensity to increase your heart rate quicker and kickstart your metabolism for burning more calories.
There has been a lot of research to suggest exercising moderately for long periods of time won’t give your body the same results as short bursts of high intensity. When walking, running or bike riding at a steady pace, your body becomes comfortable in the movement so the exercise becomes less of an effort for your body. Whereas, short bursts of high intensity movements will shock your system and continue to push your body’s limit.
It’s also said that fitness is based on your recovery rate. This is where the real difficulty of high intensity interval training comes in, focusing on little recovery time between the sets of high energy movements. This style of training jolts your body, which leads to burning more energy. The limited recovery time will also train your body to recover quicker and boost your overall fitness levels.
While HIIT exercising isn’t recommended for beginners, it is a really great type of training to work up to and build your fitness level. With its focus on high energy exercises in an extremely short period of time, it can make any novice feel dizzy and ill.
If you are just starting out or have had an extended break from any training or physical activity, first work up your training levels by increasing your normal speed of walking, running and cycling. Once you have become comfortable with your walk/run/cycle at a higher speed, you can slowly introduce a HIIT style of training, but give yourself plenty of breaks and recovery time in between.
For example, start by gradually introducing a higher speed, followed by a few minutes of your normal speed. Beginners should be spending more time in the lower interval than the higher speed, such as 20 sec high, 2 mins low. Over a number of weeks or months you should increase your higher speed, while decrease the amount of recovery time in between.
If you are renting out exercise equipment over the holiday season, why not build up your fitness levels and give one of these HIIT examples a go!
** Before any HIIT workout you should complete a 5-10 minute warm up and afterwards cool down for a few minutes before finishing your workout.
Treadmill
If you want to stick to walking still use the same exercises, but just lower the speeds listed and keep the same time limits and inclines.
Sprint: 30 sec-1 min, 12mph
Recovery: 2 mins, 5mph
Repeat x 7
For extra intensity try adding a slight incline or increase your running speed.
The exercise below uses the same training principle for a 30 minute exercise.
Sprint: 20 sec, 8mph, 3 incline
Rest: 10 sec
Repeat x 3
Recovery: 2 mins, 5mph, no incline
Sprint: 20 sec, 8.5mph, 3 incline
Rest: 10 sec
Recovery: 2 mins, 4mph, no incline
Sprint: 20 sec, 8mph, no incline
Rest: 10 sec
Repeat x 7
Recovery: 1 min, 4mph, no incline
Sprint: 20 sec, 8.3mph, no incline
Rest: 10 sec
Repeat x 7
Recovery: 1 min, 4mph, no incline
Sprint: 20 sec, 8.6mph, no incline
Rest: 10 sec
Repeat x 5
Recovery: 2 mins, 4mph, no incline
Sprint: 20 sec, 9mph, no incline
Rest: 10 sec
Repeat x 3
Cool down: 3 mins, 3.5mph, no incline
Exercise Bike
If your resistant level is on a scale to 1-20, your intense level should be about 15-18 and your recovery around 10.
High Intensity: 30 sec
Low Intensity: 1 min
Repeat x 4
High Intensity: 40 sec
Low Intensity: 1 min
Repeat x 4
High Intensity: 30 sec
Low Intensity: 1 min
The aim for this exercise is to push yourself as fast as you can go then have a short rest, you can even just take your feet off the pedals in the rest period.
High Intensity: 20 sec
Rest: 10 sec
Repeat x 8-20
Cross Trainer
Use a resistance level of 1-10 for this exercise, with 1-3 being easy, 4-7 medium and 8-10 as working your hardest.
High Intensity: 8 sec
Medium Intensity: 12 sec
High Intensity: 8 sec
Medium Intensity: 12 sec
High Intensity: 8 sec
Medium Intensity: 12 sec
Repeat x 4
Recovery: 2 mins, 3-4 intensity, pedalling backwards
High Intensity: 8 sec
Medium Intensity: 12 sec
High Intensity: 8 sec
Medium Intensity: 12 sec
High Intensity: 8 sec
Medium Intensity: 12 sec
Repeat x 4
Rowing Machine
Try to go as fast as you can in the high intensity and a slow and comfortable speed in the low intensity.
Low Intensity: 10 sec
High Intensity: 20 sec
Repeat over for the total time of 4 mins
