HIIT is a form of cardiovascular exercise which involves numerous repeated maximal effort exercises coupled with rest periods within a workout.
Workouts are usually shorter as you are working at an anaerobic level. Working at this level for short periods of time doesn't give your muscles time to recover and regain oxygen. This leads to muscles producing lactic acid to compensate for the lack of oxygen.
The ‘waste product’ lactic acid can actually have some seriously beneficial effects….
Firstly, your body uses extra calories to absorb lactic acid. When lactic acid is produced, it leads to a lengthy post-exercise calorie burn-off, melting away extra calories for hours after you stopped exercising. Once lactic acid is absorbed into your muscles, they become firmer and stronger, increasing your metabolic rate and making your muscles feel more toned. Your body develops the ability to work for longer before your muscles give out. This added stamina enables you to work harder during exercise, burning more and more calories along the way. All of this in turn means that your body gains aerobic capacity, making it both more efficient at burning fat during exercise, as your body needs oxygen to burn fat.
So why do we do HIIT at Fitology Hub alongside strength training?
Strength training focuses on your muscles, while HIIT largely targets your heart rate but they can overlap and complement each other. The HIIT workouts that we do at Fitology Hub will also help you build muscle – not deteriorate it. These load-bearing exercises are especially important for women to improve and maintain their bone health as we age.
HIIT can be beneficial to your overall health, including your cardiovascular strength. A holistic training programme should be for all of your muscles, including your heart. It also improves insulin sensitivity, a great result for your waistline and risk of serious disease.
HIIT helps you maintain muscle mass by stimulating your fast twitch muscle fibres, rather than decreasing muscle mass like long sessions of cardio may do. These fibres help us with our short and strong bursts of energy. Studies have also shown that by adding HIIT to your workout routine, it’ll also help you build up your endurance.
At the beginning of your menstrual cycle, fatigue is high and oestrogen levels are at their highest. The drop in your oestrogen levels will actually make you push harder, as fuel becomes more accessible to your body at this stage. This is because your body accesses your carbohydrate/glycogen fuel stores more easily, which will boost your energy levels in your workout. Doing a HIIT workout at this time is beneficial as you can get a good workout done in 20 minutes but still reap the cardiovascular benefits of an hour’s workout.
Studies have shown that HIIT leads to endorphin release in the brain, which can alleviate physical and emotional stress. Whereas less demanding, traditional one-hour aerobic exercise like running does not cause similar endorphin release.
Exercises can easily be made low impact, while still having the same benefits. HIIT sessions can also be adjusted to any ability, whatever a person’s previous exercise history and current physical ability.
We include attention to the pelvic floor in our workouts – essential for all!
It doesn't matter what your fitness level is right now, because your aim is basically to raise your heart rate to near maximum, before letting it recover with a nice rest. HIIT is a powerful tool to increase your fitness, energy levels, body composition and overall health. Definitely worth building into your weekly exercise schedule alongside strength training, especially as the workouts are quick!
Try these simple HIIT Workouts anywhere, anytime. They are low impact and can be scaled for any level:
FULL BODY WORKOUT 1
30 seconds on each movement, 10 transition x 2 rounds
Alternating Step-Up
Side to side knee drivers
Glute Bridge
Rest 1 minute. Then: 30 seconds on each movement, 10 sec transition x 2
Air squats
Crunches
Elevated Push-Up
FULL BODY WORKOUT 2
45 seconds on each movement, no rest x 2
Pulse Squat
Tricep Dips
Flutter kicks
Rest 1 minute. Then: 45 seconds on each movement, no rest x 2
Marching Glute Bridge
Cross body Mountain Climbers
Skaters
TABATA 1
20:10 x 4 - 20 seconds work, 10 seconds rest. Alternate between the 2 movements for 4 minutes.
Burpees/ Crunches
TABATA 2
20:10 x 4 - 20 seconds work, 10 seconds rest. Alternate between the 2 movements for 4 minutes.
Alternating Lunge and knee drive/ Crab leg kicks
TABATA 3
20:10 x 2 - Work for 20 seconds and rest for 10 seconds. You will go through the whole circuit twice.
Walking lunge
High Plank
Bear Crawl
Bicycle Sit ups
TABATA 4
20:10 x 2 - Work for 20 seconds and rest for 10 seconds. You will go through the whole circuit twice.
Inchworm + 2 shoulder taps
Squat + leg lift
4 Punches + 2 High Knee Pulls
Pulse lunge
15 minute AMRAP (As many rounds as possible)
Pace yourself over the 15 minutes. Keep count of your rounds!
Prisoner squats x 10
Wall sit x 30s
Air skipping – 30 seconds
Prone back extensions x 10
Air renegade rows x 20
AMRAP 2:00 work 1:00 rest x 3
Get a feel for the movements in round 1 and then match or beat your score in rounds 2 and 3.
Air Squats x 15
Push ups x 5
Seal jacks x 15
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