You may be intimidated by HIIT if you have never done an exercise or if you are used to low-to-moderate intensity workouts. As a result, you’ve probably heard about HIIT workouts and seen them advertised as the best way to build and maintain muscle while burning fat in a short amount of time.
HIIT exercises can be challenging for beginners if you don’t understand how to design them and if you are unsure whether they are effective. This post will get you familiar with and ready for HIIT Training. The good news is, we have covered every aspect of HIIT where workouts are simple and the concept is straightforward.
What Is a HIIT Workout?
HIIT stands for High-Intensity Interval Training. A HIIT workout is an intense workout that is followed by a short rest period. Exercises that are part of the hit workout generally use only body weight, are performed for a short period of time, with maximal effort, followed by brief, sometimes active rests.
Here are some examples:
Tabata
Tabata is possibly the most well-known HIIT exercise. Each body part is exercised for twenty seconds at maximum effort, followed by a short pause of ten seconds. Workouts with Tabata last 4-10 minutes on average. In the example of a 10 minute Tabata workout, you would have completed 20 sets, not including rest, so it would be 6.6 minutes in total. An intense workout such as this one can only be done in a short amount of time and prove effective and healthy.
Sprints
Sprinting is defined as running as fast as you can, which means you are exerting maximum effort while sprinting. Sprint high-intensity interval training exercises are the easiest HIIT to do. The process can be broken down into three simple steps. Firstly, you can do a 10 to 20-minute session with an 8-second sprint followed by a 12-second jog. Then, you can try 18-30 minute sessions where you sprint for 30 seconds and run for another four minutes. Lastly, you can try tempo run which usually lasts for 10 to 15 minutes. For this one do a 40-yard sprint, walk back and then repeat.
Get your body ready before sprints and high-intensity interval training with a few laps and dynamic stretches. Additionally, adjust your starting sprint from 80% and then build it up to 90-100% as you progress. It’s possible to do HIIT workouts by using a stationary or road bike in a similar way.
Workout at Your Own Pace
Work and rest ratios can be structured in different ways. You just need to make sure you put your best effort into each repetition. This way you could do workouts with 15 seconds work and 35 seconds rest, or 20 seconds work and 40 seconds rest, or 30 seconds work and 30 seconds rest. It’s a good resource for beginners.
Exercises such as 40 seconds of work followed by 20 seconds of rest are recommended for more advanced fitness. In this type of workout, you can alternate between circuits of different HIIT exercises or you can focus on just one. It is always best to get your heart rate up to 90-95% of your max during each set, then keep it above 65% when you are relaxing. Accordingly, the work-recovery intervals should be determined by that.