HIIT The Fitness

If you are looking to improve your health and fitness a good way to fit this into a busy lifestyle is HIIT. HIIT or high intensity interval training is a popular method used in the fitness industry that you may have heard of especially in the last few months as popularity seems to keep increasing. It generally involves bursts of intense exercise, with rest periods and takes place over a relatively short period of time, generally 15-30 minutes but can be as little as 4. It is a very effective way of training but it isn’t suitable for everyone and you should check with your doctor before you start such an exercise programme. It is also important when you are performing new exercises to warm up appropriately and make sure you can execute the moves safely and correctly before doing it at the intensity required for HIIT. You may need to start with an easy routine then increase the difficulty, working up to the more challenging workouts.
Why do HIIT?
There are many benefits to HIIT.

• If you don’t have much time to exercise HIIT is a great way to work out, burn calories and increase your fitness levels without having to devote hours to do so.
• It prevents boredom. If you often find yourself getting bored when you train, throw in some interval training to mix it up, workout time goes quickly and the exercises can be varied. You will feel like you’ve had a workout even though it doesn’t take long.
• It has been proven that doing high intensity training can increase your metabolism. It can lead to an increased production of human growth hormone for up to 24 hours after workout, so your body can burn more calories during that period.
• You can do it anywhere, in the gym, at home or outdoors, the choice is yours.
• No equipment is needed. There isn’t any special training equipment required. All you need, is a way to track time. Whether you want to use your watch, a stopwatch or an interval app (so you don’t need to keep resetting the time) will mean you can have the appropriate effort to rest ratio.

 
HIIT workouts you can try
Running (you can apply this to walking, bike or hills depending on fitness levels and goals)
Beginner: 20 seconds sprint, 1 minute rest (either walk or stop). Repeat 10 times.
Intermediate: 60 seconds run, 2 minutes rest. Repeat 5 times.
Advanced: 2 minutes run, 30 seconds rest. Repeat 10 times.
 
HIIT targeting the Core
30 seconds on, 10 seconds rest
Mountain climbers (up)
Russian twist
V-ups
Laying ankle tap
Laying ab cycle
Walking Plank
Mountain climbers (diagonally)
 
Full Body HIIT
30 seconds on, 10 seconds rest
Burpees
Squat jumps
High knees
Heel flicks
Spotted dog
Sprint on the spot
Jumping jacks
Mountain climbers
 
Record your workout, exercises and times. That way you know what you can do for your next session and push yourself harder. You want to be giving maximum effort to get your heartrate up during your work period, during your rest period your heart rate will come back down ready for the next interval. You may find it useful to get yourself a heartrate monitor. This way you can track how hard you are working, how quickly you are recovering and see improvement in your fitness over time.
Hopefully you will give HIIT a go and try something new, for more workouts or HIIT to target your specific needs get in touch, we are always happy to help. 

Happy HIIT!

​Vicki :)