What Can High Intensity Interval Training Do For You? | Article by Jean Menegus
Introduction
High Intensity Interval Training, or HIIT for short, is a type of exercise that involves short bursts of maximum effort followed by brief periods of rest. It is ideal for those who want to improve their overall fitness levels, but don't have the time to do so because of busy schedules.
What is High Intensity Interval Training, or HIIT?
High intensity interval training, or HIIT, is the practice of alternating between high intensity periods and low intensity recovery periods. The high-intensity parts are usually performed at 90% or more of your maximum heart rate, while the low-intensity parts are usually performed at 50-60% of your maximum heart rate. During a typical HIIT workout, you could do, for example, 8 to 12 repetitions of each exercise during a 20 second period, with 10 seconds or less rest in between each exercise, for a total of about 15 minutes.
This type of training has many benefits including:
Increased fat burning abilities during workouts
Less chance for injury because there is no buildup in lactic acid like with continuous cardio activity
What Can High Intensity Interval Training Do For You?
HIIT is a great way to build strength, cardiovascular fitness and burn fat at the same time. It can help you lose weight and gain muscle. HIIT also has many other benefits that you may not have realised.
You can improve your glucose metabolism by doing high intensity interval training. This means that it improves insulin sensitivity in your body, and helps control blood sugar levels so that you don’t become diabetic or prediabetic as easily.
It even improves cognitive function by increasing oxygen flow to the brain, which means better mental performance as well!
What Happens to Liver and Muscle Glycogen During HIIT?
One of the most interesting things about high intensity interval training is that it actually doesn’t deplete your muscle glycogen stores as much as you might think. After all, you don't want to be completely out of energy at the end of your workout, right?It turns out that your body can actually store enough glucose in its liver and muscles to allow you to keep going for quite some time. And if you're wondering how long this lasts after a HIIT session, it's been proven by researchers at Loughborough University in England, who found their participants were able to complete double sessions without much trouble on days 2 and 4—so long as they ate enough throughout those days!
Alternatively, HIIT is a great way to burn up glycogen after these few sessions for those on low calorie and ketogenic/low insulin diets, leading to improved fat burning ability once glycogen stores were low enough.
How HIIT Works: The Theory Behind It.
The theory behind HIIT is simple: you’re working at a high intensity for a short period of time, then resting. The body gets used to this pattern and adapts by getting better at running or cycling or whatever type of exercise you choose.
This works because our bodies have two energy systems, one that burns carbohydrates (the aerobic system) and another that burns fat (the anaerobic system). When we’re doing steady cardio like jogging or cycling, we burn mostly carbohydrates as fuel (or fat, for those on the ketogenic or low calorie diets). But when we do sprinting or weight lifting—or in this case, HIIT—we use more oxygen than normal and therefore more fat too. This helps us burn more calories over a longer period of time!
And it gets even better: not only does HIIT increase your metabolic rate after the workout; it also increases lactic acid threshold (LAT), which is how long before your muscles start to fatigue from high intensity activity like sprinting uphill.
What Is Autophagy, and What Does It Have To Do With HIIT?
Autophagy is a natural process that happens in the body to help keep things running smoothly. It’s a vital part of how our cells maintain and repair themselves, and it keeps us healthy by helping to prevent disease.
For example, autophagy helps to prevent cancer by destroying damaged cells before they can turn malignant. When autophagy slows or stops, this can lead to an increased risk of certain diseases like cancer, diabetes, heart disease and neurodegenerative illnesses like Alzheimer’s disease or Parkinson’s disease.
As you get older – no matter how fit you are – your body becomes less efficient at recycling old cells for energy; this is why HIIT has been shown to improve health as we grow older, by helping the body reach deeper levels of autophagy than usual.
Who Should Avoid HIIT?
People with heart or lung problems
Anyone with joint injuries
Those who are obese
Anyone with high blood pressure
People who have poor blood sugar control or those that suffer with low blood sugar crashes
What Happens to Your Metabolism?
The more interesting news about HIIT is that it can actually increase your metabolism, making you burn more calories even when you're not exercising. This is because of what's known as "excess post-exercise oxygen consumption" (EPOC), which is the amount of oxygen your body requires after a workout to return to its normal state. Basically, you burn lots of extra calories during this recovery period—and they stay with you long after your workout ends!
In fact, research shows that people who do HIIT have an average EPOC of 24 hours; that means they continue burning an extra 200 - 400 calories per day even while sleeping or sitting at their desk! So if we're talking about long-term fat loss here: The bottom line is that high intensity interval training will help get it done faster than steady state cardio alone would have done in the past.
Lose Fat vs Weight From Building New Muscle
When most people start exercising, their goal is to lose weight. And for good reason: it's a great way to improve your health and appearance. However, when you're working out intensely for short periods of time (i.e., high intensity interval training), you can actually increase the amount of muscle in your body while also decreasing fat at the same time! This means that you won't just look better after exercising—you'll feel better too!
In order for this to happen, however, you need to understand why losing fat is more important than losing weight when it comes down to maintaining your health. In other words: if gaining muscle means gaining weight, but losing fat doesn't mean losing any weight at all; then what number says on the scale isn't as reliable as a measurement of progress.
How Many Times a Week Should I Train With HIIT?
High intensity interval training is an excellent way to get your heart rate up, but it's also important to know how many days a week you should do it. If you're just starting out, try three or four times per week. If you've been exercising for years and are looking for a new challenge, try doing HIIT up to six times a week. This can be split into two sessions of high intensity exercise—one in the morning and one in the evening—or all six done over two days with a day off in between each session.
However, keep in mind that if you do too much HIIT over time, it can lead to burnout and injury; therefore we recommend not doing more than three sessions per week at maximum intensity (i.e., three workouts followed by active rest days).
Equipment to Use or Not Use with HIIT Training
HIIT can be done with minimal equipment. You don't need a gym membership, which is great news for those who hate the idea of being in a stuffy room with people who are all sweating, grunting and making weird noises as they jog on treadmills. There are many ways to do HIIT at home or outdoors.
You can jog around your neighborhood, sprint up hills and sprint back down them (or just run very fast), climb stairs repeatedly until you're out of breath and then walk down slowly to catch your breath, ride an exercise bike at high intensity or perform any number of exercises that work different muscle groups in quick succession. You could even dance!
If you have access to YouTube videos or DVDs showing HIIT workouts, these are another great option for getting started with this type of training program.
Group Classes Are a Great Way to Start Your Fitness Journey
Group classes are a great way to start your fitness journey. You’ll learn new exercises, and get encouragement from other people. You can also learn different ways to use the same equipment, like when an instructor demonstrates a different way to use dumbbells than you might have thought of on your own. Additionally, group classes give you access to personal trainers and other professionals who can help you develop the skills needed for specific sports or activities. Plus, there’s nothing quite like meeting new people and making new friends—you never know who might become one of your favourites!
Prepare to be challenged, and get ready to reap the rewards!
This style of exercise is challenging, but the rewards are worth it. Prepare to be challenged, and get ready to reap the rewards!
You will feel mentally better too! Research shows that exercising regularly can lower your risk of depression by 50%—and one study found that after just two weeks of high-intensity interval training (HIIT), participants reported feeling happier than usual.
Conclusion
If you’re thinking about trying HIIT for yourself, do it! You can do this at home with just a few pieces of equipment or by taking a class at the gym. I recommend starting slowly with just one workout session per week and increasing from there. If you want to get into shape fast but don’t have time for a long commute to the gym each day, this is definitely something worth considering as an alternative option.
To ensure this fitness routine is sustainable, please talk to your GP first. Additionally, many people run into nutrient stores being depleted faster with fitness routines. Please get in touch for support around the nutritional aspect of your training. Visit the contact page to get in touch.