Fitness crazes come and go, but one trend that seems to be enjoying some long-term life in gyms and personal training sessions is high-intensity interval training, also known as HiiT, high-intensity intermittent exercise (HiiE) and sprint interval training (SIT). It’s not for everyone, but it has the potential to kick your fitness level and fat loss up significantly.
HiiT Defined
High-intensity interval training is a form of cardiovascular training in which you alternate between periods of very hard exercise and periods of easy to moderate exercise. The intense period generally gets you into the anaerobic zone, or between 80 and 90% of your maximum heart rate (220 minus your age). Although there is no real standardized form, the common practice is to use a ratio of two to one or three to one throughout the workout. For example, you might give it your all with 30 seconds of cannonballs followed by 15 seconds of shuffles. Due to the intensity involved, most HiiT workouts last just 30 minutes or less, with some, such as Tabatas, lasting as little as four minutes.
Benefits
Studies suggest that HiiT training is better at burning fat than other forms of cardiovascular training. Researchers believe this is because the body is unable to really predict what you’re going to do and, therefore, has a harder time going into what is known as steady state where it’s easy to conserve energy (calories). Another contributing factor is that HiiT revs up your metabolism, increasing the rate at which your body consumes oxygen for up to 24 hours after your workout (the afterburn effect).
HiiT also appears to boost overall athletic performance. It improves both aerobic and anaerobic capacity, which basically means that you are not going to fatigue as quickly. You may be able to do exercises faster or for longer durations as a result.
Experts believe that HiiT also is helpful for reducing cardiovascular disease. Rather than keep you working at a super-charged pace for the entire workout, which can result in inflammatory responses that actually scar and damage the heart over time, HiiT asks you to perform at a high level only briefly, offering a chance to recover a bit. This type of work is much more in line with the way the heart is designed to operate. It also is able to work all three types of muscle fibers: red slow-twitch, white fast-twitch, and white superfast twitch. Getting all three types of muscle fibers involved provides maximum benefit to the heart, and traditional, lower-intensity, steady-pace cardio training simply falls flat here, activating only red slow-twitch fibers.
With the cardiovascular system getting excellent training and fat burn kicked into high gear, people often find that they lose weight. Dropping even a few pounds reduces stress on the heart, as it needn’t work quite as hard. It also can make the body more responsive to insulin, which may cut the odds of developing type-2 diabetes.
Drawbacks
By definition, all HiiT workouts push you. Not everyone is fit enough to work safely in the anaerobic zone, as this form of training requires. Beginners generally need to work up to this level. You still can use the basic interval concept, but you have to bring the intensity of the harder periods down. Additionally, HiiT requires extreme focus and will power. Sometimes this is lacking even if the physical capacity is not.
Another drawback to HiiT is that, because of the intensity, you will need to give your body some recovery time. Most trainers schedule no more than two to three HiiT sessions a week. This limitation can be disappointing to people who want to drive hard toward a weight loss goal, but on your off days, you can still do some lower-intensity exercises such as yoga or resistance training. These options have their own distinct benefits such as better balance or improved strength, although they might not blast as many calories.
Conclusion
HiiT is a form of cardiovascular exercise that relies on alternating high- and low- to moderate-intensity periods. A typical session goes for no more than 30 minutes and can contain a wide range of different moves. This type of training is thought to improve performance, promote fat loss and reduce cardiovascular and diabetes disease risks. It requires a baseline level of fitness and excellent focus, however, and it isn’t something you should be doing every day. If you are not sure whether HiiT is appropriate for you, consult your physician.
References:
Bodybuilding.com (2006). What Is the Best HiiT Workout?
Men’s Health (n.d.). What Is HiiT?
Mercola, J. (2013).Japanese Doctor Confirms Benefits of Working Out Less, But More Intensely
Related Articles By Cathe:
High-Intensity Interval Training: How Intense Does It Have to Be?
Top Fitness Trends for 2018: What’s Trending?
How HIIT Training Improves Exercise Endurance
Hiit Training: Get More Done with Less Perceived Effort
5 Ways High-Intensity Interval Training (HiiT) Improves the Health of Your Heart
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HiiT and Interval Workout DVDs
