HIIT TRAINING 101

If you haven’t heard of HIIT training I’d be really surprised. It has been the hype for a while now, and for good reason. HIIT, or high-intensity interval training, is a training technique in which you give one hundred percent effort through quick, intense bursts of exercise, followed by short rest periods. Most of my HIIT work outs are set in intervals of 30-60 seconds on and 10-20 second rest. So for those 30-60 seconds I’m pushing as hard as I can without stopping and then the 10-20 second rest I’m catching my breath. Those rest periods go by so quickly! Most HIIT workouts are less than 30 minutes so they are perfect for anyone who doesn’t have time to work out for an hour every day.

 HIIT training is perfect for those who don’t have a lot of time to work out. And it’s proven that this type of training burns a ton of calories even after the training is done!  

  “A high-intensity workout increases the body’s need for oxygen during the effort and creates an oxygen shortage, causing your body to ask for more oxygen during recovery,” says Eric Salvador, NASM, NSCA, head instructor at The Fhitting Room in New York City.  “This after burn effect is referred to as Excess Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption (EPOC) and is the reason why intense exercise will help burn more fat and calories than regular aerobic and steady-state workouts.”

When I first started my weight loss journey, HIIT training and running were the only 2 types of workouts that I did and I lost 60 pounds pretty quickly. The only equipment that I had were 10 pound dumbbells. You literally can use your body weight for every exercise and see results. Most HIIT workouts include lunges, squats, pushups, and burpees. It’s fun to add different variations of those exercises those. When it comes to HIIT training, creativity is key. To add some extra work to the standard push up, try doing an elevated pushup using your couch to put your feet on or instead of just a squat try doing the sumo squat where you lift your legs to the side up towards your shoulders (It looks like a sumo wrestler taking steps) to add ab work into it. There really are so many options when using this type of training!