Why HIIT Is Where It’s At
Whether you’re already a fan or new to the world of high intensity interval training, there are a lot of benefits to this training approach that you may not be aware of. Today we’re going to take a closer look at everything HIIT has to offer.
High intensity interval training, or HIIT for short, is one of the most effective ways to trim body fat in all the places you want it to work. Additionally it helps with your overall cardio and resistance training whether your focus is on improving cardiovascular health, losing weight, or building muscle.
The principle of HIIT is pretty simple: Engage in a series of intense bursts of exercise with periods of rest (or less intense exercise) in between. Alternating between these short periods of high and low intensity challenges your body in a totally dynamic way, burning more fat and conditioning your muscles in ways that traditional training can’t. This approach can be applied to cardio, weight training, and total body exercises that combine a bit of both.
Let’s take a look at 7 reasons to try HIIT today.
Why is High Intensity Interval Training so Effective?
1. It Improves the Health of Your Heart
HIIT is one of the best ways to improve cardiovascular health and strengthen the health of your heart. By pushing your cardiovascular system in the way that HIIT does, you’ll condition your heart over time to better adapt to stress and strain. The changes in speed prevent your body from adapting to that exercise when compared to if you didn’t include HIIT.
2. It Makes Your Workouts More Efficient
HIIT is basically a two-for-one kind of deal. When time is an issue, it’s the best way to boost the efficiency of your workouts and save time in the process. As I’ve already mentioned, HIIT allows you to get a little cardio and weight training in the same exercises. Popular HIIT exercises like the woodchopper (view exercise) or bench step-ups (view exercise) are good examples of this.
3. You Can Easily Customize Your Workouts
Regardless of your fitness level or experience, HIIT can be tailored according to your own needs. You can easily adjust the frequency of intervals, the extent and amount of rest in between more intense bursts, and the types of exercises in which you engage.
For a great variation on HIIT, check out Tabata Interval Training.
4. You Don’t Need a Gym
Because HIIT exercises so often involve body weight for resistance, an entire HIIT workout can easily be done at home. Equipment like a couple of dumbbells and a jump rope can seriously be enough to reap the benefits of HIIT from home.
5. It Helps Stabilize Your Blood Sugar Levels
There’s new research out that suggests that HIIT is actually a better approach to fitness when it comes to controlling blood sugar and keeping diabetes in check. A recent study published in the journal Diabetologia suggests it may be better than continuous cardiovascular exercise.
6. It’s Possibly the Best Boost for Your Metabolism
When you push yourself the way you do in HIIT, you maximize your energy output as well as your oxygen expenditure. These factors result in a major boost to your metabolism, maximizing the fat and calorie burning potential of your exercise.
Check out this Jump Rope Interval Training Routine, a totally effective way to boost your metabolism for hours.
7. It’s One of the Best Ways to Tone & Get Ripped
If you’re working hard to get really toned and cut, HIIT is a highly effective way to get more definition in your muscles. This is because you’re combining weight training with fat-burning cardio. In combination, these two things produce the best toning results you can find.
Take a look at my article on Interval Training for Fat Loss for more information.
Have any questions or feedback about these 7 Reasons to Try High Intensity Interval Training? Please leave a comment below…
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Thank you for visiting! Weight Loss and Training is a health blog which features all the best weight loss tips that I have learned over my 20 years of training. My background includes a degree in Kinesiology from the world renown Simon Fraser University, certification in nutritional sciences from UBC, and Personal Trainer Specialist certification from Can Fit Pro.
