HIIT – or high intensity interval training – has become among the popular choices in the fitness world. Don’t let the name scare you. HIIT can be formatted to fit anyone’s needs no matter where they are on their fitness journey. The principles behind HIIT are short bursts of intense exercise followed by a small rest period. There’s none of this walking on a treadmill or riding a bike for hours and hours. Listed in this article are four reasons why you should be HIIT-ing it.
4. Short-Term Goals Equal Long-Term Results
Living a fitness-friendly life can be easy for some. For the rest of us, it is a choir at best. With today’s society creeping more and more into a sedentary lifestyle, it makes it harder for fitness professionals to keep clients coming into the gym or following a fitness program. No matter what the style or school of thought on HIIT you are using, it is broken down into small intervals giving you a sense of accomplishment with each one completed. What I tell my clients is that as long as you’re moving during those intervals you are doing great. With each interval completed, you get a tiny jolt of that “I did it” feeling and you can parlay that into the full routine. Breaking down any exercise routine into bite-sized bits keeps everything from seeming overly daunting. This is especially useful for people who are tired of the treadmill and bikes.
3. HIIT just Fits
Have a busy life? Feel like you can’t get to the gym or find the time for a run? If so you most certainly need to try HIIT. Even as little as 7 minutes can make all the difference for you. For those who feel like the hardest part is just starting a workout, this is a blessing. With HIIT you will receive an effective workout in just a short amount of time. Whether it’s before, after, or even during work, HIIT is the accessible routine that will get you stronger, feeling great, and give you a boost of natural energy.
2. Lose Weight and Feel Great
A balanced fitness program will burn fat, improve cardiovascular health, and maintain a sound state of mind. Losing weight is always a challenge, no matter who you are. Diet has a great deal to do with shedding pounds and shrinking waist sizes. While we can’t pretend that exercise without a healthy diet will do the trick, you can’t give up on the exercise part of the equation. HIIT combines many of the effective disciplines to deliver to you a workout that will encourage weight lose and a leaner, stronger build.
1. Easy to Add or Change to New Exercises
Looking to focus on core? HIIT can help. How about improving your squat form? HIIT can help. Just looking to mess around and try new exercises? HIIT, HIIT, and HIIT. Tabata is the original style of HIIT and was developed by Dr. Izumi Tabata – who has credited Japanese speed skating coach Irisawa Koichi with engineering the fitness philosophy – and classically goes through eight cycles of twenty second intervals with ten second rest in-between. However, this isn’t the law and you can change the length of intervals based on the exercises you are doing or how you feel.
Any fitness program should balance cardio and resistance training. HIIT is an effortless way to ensure that you aren’t missing a beat. HIIT is more of a blank canvas and you can paint any exercise or fitness discipline in it. There are more than four reasons to try HIIT but the only way to discover those is to try it yourself. Share your fitness journey with us and let us know what you think of HIIT. Thank you for being awesome.