Find Your Fitness: HIIT

Good morning!

Spring break is over in our district — but the kids are still home! It’s tough. My son is a senior — and –worst-case scenario — it could be essentially done? I feel for him although he is less than concerned right now. Oh, the brain of a teenager…

And on top of that, I am not as happy with my exercise consistency because I was planning for our self-quarantine (lots of streaming TV for the family II bet!) I enjoy walking early in the morning which I will try to do every morning since I don’t have to get my daughter ready for school for now (boo!).

Here is a post about another form of exercise while you try to find your fitness this spring: HIIT!

HIIT

High-intensity interval training is a fantastic way to both put on muscle and shred down fat. Essentially, you alternate between resting and going as hard as you can for similar amounts of time until you’re too tired to do it anymore.

HIIT training, as it’s more commonly known, can be done with a variety of exercises, all with different effects and results, so you can experiment a bit to figure out what works best for you.

One of the most common HIIT exercises is sprinting. Many people struggle with running to get in shape, but by doing short bursts of sprinting combined with short periods of rest to catch your breath, you can improve your cardiovascular system, tone your legs, and shed pounds, too.

HIIT allows you to put in a great deal of effort intermittently, instead of putting in a mediocre effort for a while. This gives you better results with exercises that you might struggle with.

Abdominal Work

Many people have turned to HIIT in order to get those abs that they’ve always wanted. By doing extremely intense ab workouts and then resting, you’re able to keep going a bit longer than you would with some predetermined sets.

The higher amount of reps means that you’re going to see results faster. Much of what makes ab workouts effective for that muscle growth is caused by continuously getting in reps, so with HIIT, you’re going to definitely firm up your core.

Workout Organization

You can structure your HIIT workouts in different ways. The length of the workout and of each interval can be adjusted to better fit you, though you should be uncomfortable to an extent while doing it.

While some involve exercising and resting, some will have you switch between an easy and a difficult exercise. Then you wait until the end to really rest up. This makes for a very intense workout that’s sure to leave you sore the next day.

Not every workout needs to be a HIIT workout. You can do them once a week, once a month, or whatever works for you. Whatever you do, use HIIT to help break up the monotony of standard workouts to confuse your muscles.

If you do the same workouts at the same time every week, your muscles will adapt. Since your muscles are already prepared for it, the workout is less effective. By throwing HIIT into the mix, your muscles are forced to shake things up.

Last week: CrossFit

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Loving Life — The Reboot!

Dominique

This article provides general information and discussion about health and related subjects. The information and other content provided in this article, or in any linked materials, are not intended and should not be construed as medical advice. Consult your own physician for any medical issues that you may be having.