What Is HIIT TRAINING?

As the name implies- HIIT, also known as Interval Training (IT) or Sprint Interval Training (SIT) consists of a set number of high intensity exercises, each immediately followed by periods of recovery. The high intensity exercises can range anywhere from between 5 or 10 seconds to 5 or 10 minutes. Likewise the periods of recovery can range in duration too. HIIT also enables you to mix up the intensities of your high intensity periods as well as your recovery periods. By keeping everything varied during a workout, your training session remains considerably more interesting when compared to continuous training (CT). During the course of this book, I will be referring to CT many times. I’m sure you’re aware of what CT is however, just to clarify CT usually involves exercising at the same intensity for the entire duration of the exercise session; for example, jogging, cycling or swimming at the same speed or intensity for 45 minutes or more. To attain the maximum benefits from HIIT, with the least time investment, ideally the high intensity exercise periods should be extremely intense, as intense as you can possibly make them. They should fatigue you quickly and you should give them everything you have. However this will only last for a very short duration as exercising at high intensity for extended periods is difficult. This will be due to the rapid build-up of lactic acid as well as a depletion of creatine phosphate (CP) stores, an energy compound in your muscles that powers the body when engaged in extreme high intensity activity. This combination will prevent you from exercising any longer at your current high intensity, at which point a recovery period will be required. The recovery period should involve light exercise such as walking, gentle jogging or cycling at an easier pace. This will stop blood pooling in your legs, something which happens following exercise without a cool down. The recovery period also assists in the removal of metabolic waste products such as lactic acid. During this time, CP stores will also be replenished, enabling the body to perform high intensity work again, such as sprinting or high intensity cycling. The recovery period is used to prepare the participant for the next high intensity period of exercise which should soon be approaching.

The variables which can be manipulated during a HIIT workout are as follows:

• Duration (time or distance) of high intensity interval.
• Intensity (speed, resistance) of high intensity interval.
• Duration of recovery interval.
• Intensity of recovery interval.
• Number of repetitions of both high intensity interval and recovery interval.
• Mode of workout (running, cycling, rowing etc)

BENEFITS OF HIIT TRAINING

HIIT may seem too good to be true. The idea that you can work out for a shorter period of time and see greater health gains than you would with a traditional workout is counterintuitive. However, scientific studies back up the results.

• EFFECTIVE WEIGHT LOSS

 One reason HIIT is so popular is that it promises measurable and sustainable weight loss. If you’re willing to work hard and monitor your nutrition, HIIT really is more effective than other forms of exercise for losing weight. One 1994 study at Laval University in Quebec, Canada, found that HIIT was nine times more effective for losing fat than steady-state cardio, such as jogging. This is because HIIT burns fat not only while you’re working out, but also for up to 48 hours after exercising.

• FAST, FLEXIBLE, AND FUN

Most HIIT workouts last 30 minutes or less and can be done anywhere, making HIIT the perfect choice for those who don’t have the time or opportunity to squeeze in a full hour at the gym every day. With HIIT you have dozens of exercises to choose from that can be combined in countless ways. The ever-changing format of these HIIT routines will provide a unique and fun stimulus. HIIT is also flexible; it can be done anywhere and requires no equipment. The exercises in Fitness Dost classes rely on body weight resistance with an emphasis on achieving maximal heart rate.

• LOSE FAT, NOT MUSCLE

 If you’ve ever dieted, you know it’s hard not to lose muscle mass along with fat. Studies show that HIIT workouts allow the preservation of muscle mass while losing weight through fat loss. This is because HIIT boosts testosterone and human growth hormone (HGH) levels, which are responsible for lean muscle gain and fat loss. HIIT stimulates the production of HGH by up to 450 percent during the 24 hours after you finish your workout. HGH is not only responsible for increasing your metabolism and stoking your fat-burning furnace; it also slows down the aging process.

• IMPROVED HEART HEALTH

Pushing yourself into an anaerobic zone, where it feels like your heart is beating out of your chest, can actually improve your aerobic and anaerobic endurance. A 2012 study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research found that just six HIIT workouts performed over two or three weeks, each lasting only a few minutes, produced measurable improvements in key markers of cardiovascular health.

• MITOCHONDRIAL GROWTH

The mitochondria are the power plants of your cells. These tiny cellular structures supply the cell’s energy and are also involved with regulating cell growth. How does this relate to HIIT? In 2012, the American Journal of Physiology published an article stating that HIIT triggers mitochondrial biogenesis, the process by which new mitochondria are formed within a cell. Mitochondrial biogenesis begins to decline with age, so the ability of HIIT to trigger this process could be described as age-defying. This is not the first time researchers have linked exercise to mitochondrial changes. A 2011 review in Applied Physiology, Nutrition and Metabolism points out that exercise induces changes in mitochondrial enzyme content and activity, which can increase your cellular energy production and in so doing decrease your risk of chronic disease. Mitochondrial changes may also benefit your liver, brain, and kidneys.

• ATHLETIC PERFORMANCE

When you think about it, nearly all sports involve some kind of stopping and starting action. From combat sports like boxing and martial arts, racket sports such as tennis and squash, all the way to team sports such as football, both American and soccer as well as basketball or ice hockey. Also there are track and field sports such as jumping, both long and high, shot putting or any throwing event and naturally there is sprinting too; all these sports as a consequence of short bursts of high intensity action will involve the rapid build-up of lactic acid.

Therefore dealing with this painful performance crippling lactic acid is of paramount importance to all athletes or even to the recreational sportsman. If you are unable to deal with high lactate concentrations then you will be at a major disadvantage when compared to any opposition who is HIIT trained. And not just your opposition either– But you will also be up against anybody vying for that same position as you on the sports team, for example, your teammates.