What's a HIIT workout?
The same old way of exercising can get old pretty fast. We are always looking for the next fitness trend and the newest excitement is over HIIT workouts. High Intensity Interval Training is a great way to get your workout in no matter your circumstances. Whether you are planning to take 20 minutes out of your lunch break or dedicate half an hour after work, this is a perfect way to workout.
Benefits
The biggest advantage to this style of exercise is the time it takes. These workouts only take between 20 and 40 minutes. Healthline.com admitted “Unfortunately, many people feel that they don’t have enough time to exercise”. With this workout, time is no longer an excuse. Even though this workout is shorter than most, “researchers found that HIIT burned 25-30% more calories than other forms of exercise” (Healthline.com). This is true because you are keeping your heartrate up the whole time.
Studies have shown that the bursts of high intensity you are doing in these workouts are more effective for weight loss than longer and less intense workouts. HIIT allows your metabolic rate to increase after the workout, meaning you will still be burning calories after your workout is complete. This is sure to keep you feeling like your best self all day.
How it Works
The way these workouts work is right in the title. Each exercise is short and at a high intensity followed by a short recovery. I will give you a full body HIIT workout example. Start with 45 seconds of push-ups (arms), followed by a 15 second break. After the 15 seconds, get straight into sit-ups (abs) for 45 seconds, followed by another 15 second break. Lastly, 45 seconds of squats (glutes and booty) followed by a 15 second break. After those three exercises in three minutes, repeat the set. After both sets (6 minutes have passed), you have finished your first block. Pick three new exercises, and start over with the same times. Most HIIT workouts consist of between 3 and 6 blocks. Give yourself a full minute recovery between each block.
Now that you know how to do it, make the workout your own. You know you are self-conscious of your arms? Isolate those muscles by picking all exercises that work your arms. Or, do a full block of arm workouts before you move on to a full block of ab workouts. Need an extra challenge? Add a pair of dumbbells. Too long? Make the exercises 30 seconds with a 10 second break. The best part about these workouts is that you can personalize them however you need in so many different ways.
There are two real rules to HIIT workouts. First, you must keep your heartrate up the whole time, keep this a high intensity workout so that you can end at 20 or 30 minutes rather than spending 2 hours at the gym. Keep at it and soon you will see the same results. Second, make sure you are pushing yourself the whole duration of the exercise. Don’t cheat yourself! You did the hardest part by showing up to the workout, now make sure you give it your all. Just keep going; if you can’t complete the full active time doing pushups, drop down to your knees, but finish out the time. Hopefully you will find that next time you will be stronger and not have to drop to your knees as quickly but don’t stop pushing yourself! You will have a break in less than a minute.
