Wednesday, June 26, 2013

How To Understand High Intensity Interval Training

By Howe Russ


If you ask any fitness instructor for tips on how to lose weight you will likely find HIIT among the suggestions. But what is high intensity interval training and who should be performing it?

Today we'll teach you the various styles of this form of exercise as well as explaining the various myths which surround it.
See the top 5 types of hiit sessions and what they are designed for.


While many people are content to jog at a steady pace on a treadmill for hour after hour, there is a large amount of the fitness population who find this approach a little boring. As a result, they tend to put their efforts into resistance training and in many cases they completely neglect cardiovascular exercise.

The high intensity interval training formula is a middle ground between both ends of the scale which tends to appeal to members of either group.

What type of person should be using this training method? It may surprise you to hear that both sets of people would get results. While your body is able to increase it's ability to shed unwanted fat at a quicker rate than regular cardiovascular activity, studies also show an increase in our ability to build lean muscle.

One of the biggest plus sides of this training style is a phenomenon called Excess Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption. You might have heard this called "The Afterburn Effect" by some trainers. When performing a resistance training session your body continues to burn off calories for up to sixteen hours after your session is over, this is also a benefit of interval training.

There are several variations on this style of training, so below we'll explain a few of the most established styles for you and you can apply the one you find fits your goals.

* The Tabata Method

* Performing intervals specifically to improve your performance in a sporting event.

* Weight loss workouts.

Tabata's were developed in the 1990's and involve possibly the shortest, yet hardest, interval workout of all time. This was designed with elite athletes in mind so if you are new to the gym you may want to hold off on this concept for a while.

Originating from Japan, this style of workout has been proven to increase the VO2 Max in a group of highly trained athletes by a whopping 28%.

It consists of performing an interval session which runs a total of just four minutes. Load up on a bike, set the timer for four minutes and spend twenty seconds at maximum intensity followed by ten seconds recovery. Keep repeating this cycle until the timer runs out and that's one session. Naturally, most people are not at a sufficient level of fitness to get the most out of this type of workout.

Sport specific interval workouts can be applied to those looking to train for a particular event or improve performance for a team game. One good example of this can be performed using a rowing machine. Row 500 meters as fast as possible then perform push-ups for thirty seconds. Repeat this cycle five times and you have a great muscle building high intensity circuit class.

If you are looking to use high intensity interval training to improve your general fitness and get the fat loss benefits on offer then you should pay close attention to a recent study performed in Canada. Researchers found that the optimal interval workout for fat loss is a thirty minute session split up into sections of 4 minutes at a moderate intensity and 30 second bursts of maximum effort.

So you can now clearly see that there are multiple benefits to performing high intensity interval training. No matter if your fitness goal is build muscle or lose body fat, there are a number of rewards waiting for those who have the determination to push themselves through this type of workout.

Science has changed a lot of aspects of the health and fitness industry over the years and this is just one change which has been widely accepted. If you are stuck in the old routine of performing long, steady state cardio sessions and would like to learn how to lose weight with a bit more of a challenge each time you hit the gym, we highly recommend adopting HIIT into your training routine immediately.




About the Author:



0 commentaires:

Post a Comment

Thanks for your comment.