High-intensity interval training (HIIT) is all the rage these days. High intensity interval training during COVID pandemic is safe and effective in improving physical function and quality of life. One of the reasons this is so is because it helps burn more calories and blast fat faster than other exercises. In truth, these exercises are efficient and effective, which means you'll need less time to achieve the same results you would achieve with traditional exercises. Basically, HIIT helps you burn large amounts of calories in a short amount of time.
But what is HIIT? It stands for High Intensity Interval Training, and it translates into short, intense bursts of close to maximum effort that can last from 10 seconds to 3 minutes in an exercise routine. These intervals are periodically repeated during the exercise and its intensity can vary depending on the workout. Just as well, some of these routines can use different muscles of the body, while there are also comprehensive routines that target every muscle.
To feel the greatest benefits of this training, exercises should be performed at a high intensity for around 30 seconds or less followed by a period of rest, and repetitions. To make the most of your workout session, it should be preceded by a five- to seven-minute warm-up period to get your heart rate up. Here are some of the reasons why you can spend less time exercising with high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and still get great results:
You burn calories during and after the workout. Due to something called the excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC), you will not only burn calories during the workout, but you will also burn calories during the hours that follow the workout because your body will need to replace energy and repair muscle proteins which were damaged during the workout. Therefore, HIIT training works in two ways, it helps you use the body's reserves of energy during the workout, and it speeds up your metabolism rate and helps you burn calories after exercise.
It can help you lose fat. As this exercise requires an effort from your body, it targets fat stores for the energy during and after the exercise. During the exercise, it will metabolize fat for fuel, and after the exercise, it will make use of fat stores to restore to its normal resting state and repair damaged muscle proteins.
HIIT can help improve oxygen consumption. Exercise increases your oxygen expenditure during and after the workout. As your body burns 5 calories per liter of oxygen consumed, HIIT increases your caloric expenditure simply by increasing the amount of oxygen you consume. This is more so as short intervals of extremely high-intensity training involving a lot of muscle mass require vast amounts of oxygen during and after the exercise.
HIIT improves metabolic waste removal. While high-intensity training produces a great amount of metabolic waste, such as hydrogen ions and lactic acid, the recovery interval helps to remove these waste products. HIIT's metabolic waste removal aims at helping the muscles perform the next high-intensity exercise. Therefore, this type of workout trains your body to cope with and swiftly recover from high-intensity exercise.
Health benefits. HIIT can help reduce blood pressure and sugar, and helps to keep a healthy heart. While normal training can make it hard to push yourself into an anaerobic state where you find yourself out of breath and your heart starts beating out of your chest, HIIT helps you push yourself to that level thanks to the rest interval that follows the heart pounding point. This process keeps your blood flowing through your body and keeps your heart healthy.
Simple. Since HIIT is based on raising your heart rate rather than toning your muscles, it doesn't require machines, and it's versatile. All you need is an open space and a timer since the purpose of the exercise is to get your heart rate up quickly. Since they only require a short amount of time, you can easily combine HIIT training with other fitness regimes. Therefore, it's efficient and effective.
Some of the HIIT exercises that are easy to incorporate into a fitness routine are mountain climbers, star jumps, lunges, jumping squats, skipping, burpees, high knees, sprints, press ups, and planks.
As a result, HIIT is a way to work out smarter. It's recommended for beginners to see results fast, lose weight and build endurance.