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.
Walk into any fitness center and you are going to notice two very different groups of people who prefer two extremely different training methods. You'll have those who are at their happiest when they are left to their own devices on a treadmill for an hour or more, then you'll have those who think that approach sounds like hell. This group like to focus much more on resistance training instead.
High intensity interval training provides both groups with a stepping stone between their respective styles, offering the benefits of both methods in one workout.
Who should be exercising this way? Well, to a certain degree absolutely anybody can get results with the many variations of interval training which are out there. It has been proven to burn fat at an increased rate and also to increase lean muscle tissue, so regardless of your overall fitness goal there is undoubtedly a place for this in your workout routine.
The main reason this type of training is so popular with those looking for the fat loss benefits it offers comes down to something called Excess Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption, or E.P.O.C. for short. When you perform steady state cardiovascular activity you generally stop burning off calories at an increased rate the moment you finish your activity. With high intensity interval training, however, your body actually continues burning those calories at an increased rate for hours after you leave the gym, therefore increasing fat loss results.
Take a look below at the most common variations of interval training and you will be able to apply one of these methods to your own training routine easily.
* The Tabata Method
* Performing intervals specifically to improve your performance in a sporting event.
* Interval training specifically to reduce body fat.
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%.
Tabata intervals can be performed on any piece of equipment and the total workout time, minus warm-up and cool-down periods, is only four minutes long. Those 4 minutes contain of eight 30 second sections, each consisting of 20 seconds at maximum intensity followed by 10 seconds of light recovery.
If you are training for a particular sporting event, the second type of interval training is perhaps more suited to your personal needs. Incorporating your sporting movements into a cardiovascular exercise then switching to an exercise which works the opposing muscle groups is a great way to boost overall performance. For instance, eight circuits consisting of 300 meters on a rowing machine followed by 30 seconds of push-ups.
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.
The physical benefits of performing high intensity interval training are clear to see. Thanks to the several variations available you can make the most of this training style whether you are trying to build lean muscle or trying to shed unwanted body fat.
While HIIT is now a very popular choice among exercise enthusiasts around the world, it remains clouded in mystery thanks to the many various styles within it's category. As you can see from the three we have took you through today, it isn't rocket science. There are countless gym members out there who have been trying to figure out how to lose weight without spending endless hours on equipment they don't particularly enjoy. Thanks to this training style, now they can.
Today we'll teach you the various styles of this form of exercise as well as explaining the various myths which surround it.
Walk into any fitness center and you are going to notice two very different groups of people who prefer two extremely different training methods. You'll have those who are at their happiest when they are left to their own devices on a treadmill for an hour or more, then you'll have those who think that approach sounds like hell. This group like to focus much more on resistance training instead.
High intensity interval training provides both groups with a stepping stone between their respective styles, offering the benefits of both methods in one workout.
Who should be exercising this way? Well, to a certain degree absolutely anybody can get results with the many variations of interval training which are out there. It has been proven to burn fat at an increased rate and also to increase lean muscle tissue, so regardless of your overall fitness goal there is undoubtedly a place for this in your workout routine.
The main reason this type of training is so popular with those looking for the fat loss benefits it offers comes down to something called Excess Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption, or E.P.O.C. for short. When you perform steady state cardiovascular activity you generally stop burning off calories at an increased rate the moment you finish your activity. With high intensity interval training, however, your body actually continues burning those calories at an increased rate for hours after you leave the gym, therefore increasing fat loss results.
Take a look below at the most common variations of interval training and you will be able to apply one of these methods to your own training routine easily.
* The Tabata Method
* Performing intervals specifically to improve your performance in a sporting event.
* Interval training specifically to reduce body fat.
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%.
Tabata intervals can be performed on any piece of equipment and the total workout time, minus warm-up and cool-down periods, is only four minutes long. Those 4 minutes contain of eight 30 second sections, each consisting of 20 seconds at maximum intensity followed by 10 seconds of light recovery.
If you are training for a particular sporting event, the second type of interval training is perhaps more suited to your personal needs. Incorporating your sporting movements into a cardiovascular exercise then switching to an exercise which works the opposing muscle groups is a great way to boost overall performance. For instance, eight circuits consisting of 300 meters on a rowing machine followed by 30 seconds of push-ups.
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.
The physical benefits of performing high intensity interval training are clear to see. Thanks to the several variations available you can make the most of this training style whether you are trying to build lean muscle or trying to shed unwanted body fat.
While HIIT is now a very popular choice among exercise enthusiasts around the world, it remains clouded in mystery thanks to the many various styles within it's category. As you can see from the three we have took you through today, it isn't rocket science. There are countless gym members out there who have been trying to figure out how to lose weight without spending endless hours on equipment they don't particularly enjoy. Thanks to this training style, now they can.
About the Author:
About the author: Russ Howe PTI is England's most subscribed fitness instructor. He reglarly teaches gym members how to lose weight , introducing many to hiit sessions for the first time.
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