Healthy Habits: HIIT Training

HIIT (“High-Intensity Interval Training”) is a form of exercise that is mostly cardiovascular based but can include weights. The idea is that one alters between high-intensity bursts of output followed by a period of rest or moderate movement. HIIT can make one’s heartrate vary greatly. A very simple example HIIT could be a 400m sprint on a treadmill followed by a 3-minute interval of walking. 

HIIT has gained a lot of popularity in recent years for a good reason. HIIT is often found a part of programming in workout methods such as Crossfit or Spinning. 

NOTE: Only High-Intensity Interval Training type Workouts in your Apple Health app counts towards your HIIT Habit in the Healthzilla app.

Benefits of HIIT

Luckily, there are decades of research into HIIT effectiveness:

  • Improved Heart rate variability vs moderate state exercise (1)

  • Increased VO2Max, a leading longevity indicator (2)

  • Weight loss (3)

  • Reduced risk of cardiovascular disease (4)

  • Improved cognitive abilities (5)

And the above is just to name a few. HIIT is a very recommendable addition to your workout regime.

Methods and programs for HIIT

This is pretty simple. All you need is a timer for when to go hard, and when to rest.

Sets: 4 x 4 minutes @ 90% speed, 4 mins active rest between sets

Without a treadmill, you’ll just have to feel it out. Run at a rate you can sustain for 4 minutes, which is definitely more than a light jog! You should be at your max heart rate by the end of each set. Don’t sit down between sets, keep walking for active rest.

Outside: Running in the best scenery you can find!

Home: Assuming you can’t run even in a yard, you can do light bodyweight exercises like knee raises, jumping jacks, and air squats. Just keep rotating exercises to keep it fun! Stairs can be a good alternative in apartment buildings.

HIIT without running

HIIT also can be found in many different forms of popular exercises such as:

  • Crossfit

  • Football

  • Tennis

  • Ice Hockey

  • Spinning

  • Aerobics

And the list goes on and on. The easy part is that you can actually do HIIT without any equipment by doing, for example, a bodyweight workout or go for a run where you sprint for 30 seconds and walk for a minute for 30 minutes.

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Weight Loss, LongevityAki Raninvo2max, hiit, cardio, weight loss, sprintingComment