HIIT Training – Why does it work and how do you get started?

You may well have heard HIIT mentioned – after all it seems to be the next big thing. Or, you may have seen friends post about their HIIT workouts on social media. But, you may not be exactly certain what it is, and you are probably not alone in this. HITT is short for High Intensity Interval Training and it was one of the big fitness trends of 2017. It also looks likely to carry on increasing in popularity throughout 2018.

HIIT workouts are a great way to build up lean muscle whilst burning fat. The main reason that they are so popular is that they really work. These are short and very intense programs of exercise that last around 30 minutes. And, whilst that might sound more than a little intimidating, there is nothing to be scared about at all.

Getting Started

HIIT is suitable for anyone. However, if you are a newcomer to exercise you should make sure that you ease yourself into it. You could end up injuring yourself if you don’t. With any new form of exercise, it is always a good idea to begin with the easier workouts. This is in order to give yourself the minimum chance of straining your body through over working it.

• Make sure that you wear appropriate clothing for your HIIT workouts. This is really important to help you feel comfortable whilst exercising.
• Don’t forget those all important warm up exercises first to help avoid injury
• During your first week, let your self work at a medium pace. Build yourself up to doing more over a period of time
• This is high intensity exercise so allow your body to rest. It is usually suggested that you give yourself a gap of at least one day in your HIIT workout. A good suggestion, and certainly at the beginning is to do no more than a maximum of 4 sessions of HIIT per week.

Find a good group locally and join them, working out with others can really help in terms of moral support, especially when you are just starting out.

How does it work?

HIIT involves putting in maximum effort for quick and very intense short periods of exercise, these are followed by short periods of recovery. The key is to get your heartrate up which in turn will help to improve your level of cardiovascular fitness whilst at the same time helping you to burn more fat and calories in a shorter time.

Short workouts do not mean that this is easier exercise, you need to push your self more during that short burst in order to see the improvement. The keyword here is Intensity, that means you should be getting sweaty but do it right and you will really see the results and its only 30 minutes, so you know it will be over soon.

Push your body to the max during your periods of exercise and then give yourself those small rest periods and just see what you can achieve.